A New Yet Similar Path
by Zukara
Summary: Naruto is forced to use a jutsu by the Kyuubi to send him back in time. Now, in an altered 13 year old body, and the knowledge of his future and his arsenal of jutsu at his disposal, what will he change? Narusakuino. Mature, just in case.
1. Jikanhanten

**_Hello and welcome to my story. This is a fanfic that has been on my mind for a while now and it had to be let out. Hope you enjoy it. This is definetly a NaruSaku fanfic but i might add Ino in cause i like her. _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_**

**_Chapter 1: Jikanhanten_**

The forest had been obliterated by the two powerhouses that were facing off against each other.

Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Neji, Lee, Gai, Tenten, Gaara, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Tsunade and Sasuke had been watching the battle unfold for over two hours. Madara Uchiha in his Akatsuki robes and orange mask and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze wearing the same outfit that his father had worn were at a stalemate. They stared at each other for a moment before resuming hand seals. **"Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!" (Water Type; Explosion Skill)**

The two pillars of water that they had created clashed and exploded. At that moment, another explosion rang out from a mile away in the undestroyed portion of the forest and a few minutes later, Kankuro, Temari, Kurenai, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba appeared.

Naruto's gaze shot towards the group of spectators and then back to his crimson eyed foe.

'Damn it' thought Madara. 'I don't know how he did it, but if I try to use the Mangekyo Sharingan again, he'll just break Tsukuyomi and use _that_ technique to force it back to a normal Sharingan, and I'm nearly out of chakra!'

"So now you're the last one Madara!" Naruto said. "You're the last member of Akatsuki!"

"You know that this battle is inevitable Naruto!" he spat at the whiskered blonde. "You won't kill me!"

Naruto frowned for a moment and said, "I've already taken the abilities your Sharingan gave you and added them into the equation. You don't have much chakra left, let alone to prevent this next technique!"

Suddenly, behind Madara, a Naruto kage bunshin had popped out of the earth and went through a few hand seals. "**Suirou no Jutsu!" (**Water Prison Skill)

A sphere of water surrounded Madara and trapped him. 'Damn it!'

The real Naruto smiled.

"You still can't kill me you brat! I'm immortal!" Naruto's smile grew a bit.

"Kinda like how Kyubi was?" he asked. Kakashi, Tsunade, Gai, and Yamato knew what he had just implied.

"NARUTO!! PLEASE DON"T DO IT!" Tsunade yelled. 'That would make four people I've lost.'

But Naruto had just finished the hand seals. **"****Fuuin Jutsu; Shiki Fuujin" (Enchantment Spell; Dead Demon Imprisonment)**

Behind Naruto, invisible to all but Naruto, Madara, Sasuke, Kakashi, Neji and Hinata, was the god of death.

"I'll say hi to Jiraiya for you Obaa-chan" Naruto said. Then, everybody realized what was about to happen. "I'll miss all of you…" Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out. "Please…"

She fell to her knees knowing that the next few minutes were her fiancé's last minutes on this planet as she stared at the ring she had been given just a few days earlier. "I love you…" she whispered.

"I love you to Sakura…" Naruto said. The Shinigami had just finished his ritual when Naruto dashed towards Madara and ran into the sphere of water and grabbed him by the shoulders. Once that happened, the clone Naruto had summoned disappeared and the water prison collapsed. The Shinigami grinned and reached through Naruto and towards Madara.

Naruto smirked and said, "He feels like you cheated him with that Sharingan's ability."

Madara's eye was filled with fear and Naruto glared at Madara and his permanent Sharingan. "But, you'll die as well!" he yelled frantically.

"I already know that, I may be leaving my family and friends here, but I'll be joining others in the afterlife and I'll finally meet my father. Besides, if you had your way, I would have died when you extracted Kyubi."

Madara began to hyperventilate and Naruto smirked again. "Don't worry Madara; you're only going to be sealed inside of me, inside of _Kyuubi's_ cage! SEAL!" The Shinigami quickly tugged Madara's soul and into the seal on Naruto's stomach and creating the same seal on top of it.

Before the jutsu was fully completed, Naruto quickly retreated into his mind.

When Naruto arrived in front of the Kyuubi's cage, he chuckled softly. Madara was in the corner in the fetal position while Kyuubi laughed at him. Madara had tried to use his Sharingan to repel the fox, but nothing worked and Kyuubi knew why.

"**It's the seal you idiot. It prevents you from using your chakra for a while and therefore negates your ability to control me!"**

Madara whimpered when he saw Kyuubi bare his fangs in a low growl of laughter. "**After eighteen years of dreaming of my revenge, eighteen years of being sealed in Naruto all because of you, will be paid back!**" With one smooth motion, Madara Uchiha, the most powerful Shinobi yet, was eaten by the fox he had once had control over.

"**Not bad for an Uchiha, tastes a bit like a cat!**"

"I hope you enjoyed your last meal…"

"**I did, thank… Last meal**?"

Naruto looked slightly embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"**Damn it! Kit we both agreed to not use it unless absolutely necessary!"**

"And it was necessary you dumbass! We both know that this was the only way to actually beat Madara because of his damn Sharingan!"

"**Then let's use my jutsu!"**

"No. We finally beat Madara and if we go back then there is a chance that we might not be able to do it again."

"**True, but what about your life?"** Kyubi had decided to pull out all the stops in this conversation. **"Your friends, your family, your future family. Sakura loves you and if you leave her it will crush her heart. When she thought she loved Sasuke and he left, she was devastated. Now imagine what she might do if she sees her true love that had just proposed to her throw his life away! She might do something that could hurt many!"** Kyuubi didn't really care much for the pink haired kunoichi that Naruto had loved and thought of for a decade, but he did care for himself and had slightly started to see the boy as a type of son. The type that you're disappointed in but a son none the less.

Naruto had flinched at these comments and didn't have anything else to say.

"**Don't worry kit. You'll have all of your knowledge and power, and your body may change slightly but other than that, there isn't much to worry about. Now whether you want to or not, THIS. IS. HAPPENING!" **Kyuubi roared as his chakra quickly engulfed Naruto.

Madara's body had collapsed when Naruto's body started to change. He was screaming out in pain as it started. His body slowly began to contort until he was starting to look like a mini kyubi with six tails.

Everyone gasped as it happened and Sakura began to cry when two more tails appeared.

The now transformed Naruto stood up on two legs and began to do hand seals.

"What jutsu is that?" Sakura asked the two Sharingan wielders.

"Can't follow the seals…" they both said in shock.

After one minute, Naruto stopped on a tiger seal and said in a demonic voice. "_**Oni: jikanhanten no jutsu (demon: time reversal jutsu**__)_"

"?" everyone was shocked to hear this. "He's reversing time?" Kakashi yelled in disbelief when he felt his chakra leaving his body.

"He's taking chakra from everything!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Why is it doing that?"

"It's what this jutsu does!" Gaara said. The wind had picked up and was blowing towards Naruto. "I remember hearing Shukaku considering using it. The jutsu takes chakra from everything within a mile of the user and I mean _everything_! Shukaku couldn't use it though; it required too much chakra to use while being sealed in a human. Kyuubi however, has enough chakra to initiate the jutsu successfully without dying.

However, it's never been done with a Jinchuuriki so there could be negative side effects."

"So what's going to happen?" Sasuke asked.

"He's reversing time so that none of this actually happened. We will never know of this timeline and its events. We will revert back to what ever age we were when the jutsu is finished. He however, will retain both his memories and his abilities."

"So, he's pretty much pressing the rewind button of life?" Ino asked.

"Yes, but like I said, mentally, he will be the same as right now."

"Physically?" Sakura asked.

"A mix of how he is now and how he was when he was however old he was when the jutsu stops."

"And us?" Hinata asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "You weren't listening? This never happened and hopefully never will. I'm guessing that he's trying to change things so that the future is for the better." As he said this, everyone's eyes had landed on Sasuke.

"Let us hope that he does…" Ino said. "Honestly, he's kinda cute now…"

Sakura glared and was about to say something when she heard something.

"See you soon!" Then there was a flash of white and then nothing.

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Naruto felt like his limbs were on fire. 'What the hell?' Just then, memories of his conversation with Kyuubi assaulted him mind. "I can't believe it!" Naruto yelled as he sat up. He looked around the room he was in and quickly realized that the jutsu had obviously been successful. Yet, something was different. He had felt this feeling before, but it hurt more when he used it.

'Kyuubi's chakra?'

He quickly went into his mind to find something that shocked him. The Kyuubi's cage was open and there was a small one tailed fox curled up in the corner of the room outside the cage.

"K…Kyuubi?"

The fox lazily opened an eye. "Hello, Naruto." The fox's voice seemed less foreboding.

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked the now chibi like fox.

"Well," the Kyuubi stood up and stretched in a feline manner. "The jutsu may have had some, unexpected results concerning me and you."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Naruto sighed.

Kyuubi walked up to Naruto and sat back down in front of the blond shinobi.

"Indeed. Well, usually, I wouldn't have had a problem with the jikanhanten, but it has never been tried by a Biju while sealed away."

"You already told me all of this before we fought Pein."

Kyuubi growled at the young Namikaze for interrupting him. "Let me continue!"

Naruto stayed silent. "Anyways, when I activated the jutsu, I noticed what started to happen right away." Kyuubi took a deep breath. "I'm dying."

"…"

"Thanks for your concern Kit."

"Well, you can't exactly blame me for not being to broken up about it."  
The small fox chuckled. "True. At most, I have about a month left."

"Why are you dying?" Naruto interrupted.

The former nine tailed fox stared at his host for about a minute before chuckling.

"While possessing you by forcing so much chakra into you, the jikanhanten forced your body to permanently absorb the amount of chakra into your own spirit. Normally, this would kill you instantly, but the jutsu had a filter effect on my chakra and successfully changed it into your type of chakra, although, it is a lot more potent than it should be."

Naruto thought for a moment before speaking. "How's this going to affect my body?"

Kyuubi grinned. "Theoretically, the jikanhanten would have slightly altered your body to suit some of your knowledge, but not to drastically. Thanks to the 'transfer' of power, your body has undergone a transformation." Naruto's jaw had dropped at this.

"Don't worry your still a human, just this time, you'll look… Better."

Naruto stared at the fox demon, searching for anything that would give him a better idea of what the fox was implying. Kyuubi used the silence to continue.

"Your strength will be immense as well as your chakra control, despite your increase of chakra capacity. However, you will still have your limits."

"What about my healing?" Naruto didn't want that to leave him just yet.

"You will still retain the healing ability that came from me, but from now on, you can call it a Kekkei Genkai."

"…" Naruto was shocked that his healing ability would be able to be passed to his children.

"Also, another part of your newly formed Kekkei Genkai is pretty much a copy of the Rinnegan. The ability to use all the elemental chakra types. Thankfully, it won't be one of you 'doujustu' that are so pathetic."

"AWESOME!"

Kyuubi sweat dropped as Naruto began to jump around as if he were twelve again. 'Will he ever mature?'

"GAKI!" Kyuubi yelled. Naruto stopped jumping and looked towards the fox.

"You won't have the elemental chakra ability for a while, and when you do receive it, it will still take immense training to actually be able to use it to your advantage!"

Naruto nodded yet he didn't seem deterred in the slightest. "You currently have the healing ability, but you won't receive the element ability until you've absorbed my final tail."

"?"

"Each of my tails is condensed with chakra and you have already taken eight of them."

"So, I'll be as strong as you…?"

"No. Demonic chakra is much more potent than human chakra, and my chakra is being filtered into you so that your body can handle it. Although, I doubt that anyone else will have the same amount of chakra that you have. You could easily be compared to the four tailed beast."

Naruto grinned.

"That's pretty much it about that, but I do have a warning for you kit."

"What is it?" Naruto asked feeling slightly uneasy at Kyuubi's tone of voice.

"Even though my chakra is being filtered, the remnants that aren't absorbed have to go somewhere. The eight tails worth that was left was dissipated while the jutsu was in effect, but you have one tail left and so that unused chakra will be absorbed into your hormones, so to speak."

"Am I going to be a pervert?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi chuckled. 'Whenever this kit hears hormones, he always thinks of mating.'

"No, hormones effect more than _that_. This chakra will affect your mood. You'll be more prone to losing your temper while you absorb my chakra. Don't worry, I doubt you'll physically hurt anyone, but knowing you, you might verbally tear someone down, especially in this time."

It had finally dawned on Naruto that they had gone back in time.

"How old am I?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"You meet the Cyclops today…"

"…NANI!?"

'Here we go…' Although Kyuubi had then noticed that Naruto was in a corner with anime style tears running down his face.

"What is it?"

sniff sniff. "Sakura's a fan girl again…" Kyuubi sweat dropped.

"Kit, get up!"

Naruto slowly got up, the tears having disappeared, yet disappointment was clearly written on his face.

"You got her last time; I bet it'll happen again."

"… I guess…"

"Even if you don't, there was that blond and the Hyuga. They seemed to be interested."

Naruto smiled. "True, but we'll see what happens."

"Indeed. Anyways, kit!"

Naruto snapped to attention.

"You're going to need to find some new clothes and make up a good excuse."

"Huh, why?" Instead of receiving an answer, Kyuubi forced Naruto out of his mindscape.

"Damn fox!" Naruto yelled as he sat up yet again. He looked around his room and saw that it was indeed the same bedroom he had slept in while he was at the academy and when he was a Genin.

"Wow, this sure brings back memories… I better get used to that feeling." Stretching his sore limbs, Naruto slowly climbed out of the small mattress he once called a bed. He slowly made his way to the small bathroom only to hit his head on the frame of the door.

"OW! I never hit my head on that!" Rubbing the lump on his head, he ducked under the frame and entered the grimy bathroom. He pulled his toothbrush up to his mouth after smearing some mint toothpaste on it and looked in the mirror. It took him a second for his mind to process the new reflection staring at him.

"… Wow…" he whispered.

He didn't look like his former self. Instead, he looked like a mirror image of his father. The whisker marks that he used to bear had disappeared and his eyes were just as striking as Minato's. He was obviously taller than he used to be. He was about five feet ten inches tall. His hair was the same as his father's was. His face contained no trace of fat and was lean.

His body was covered in lean muscle that didn't make him out to be scrawny, but it wasn't overbearing.

Naruto grinned at his 'transformed' state. 'Not bad Kyuubi…'

Naruto quickly finished up in the bathroom while he contemplated possible excuses for his new look and had come up with a passable excuse. Although, people would definitely have their doubts.

Naruto walked back into his bedroom and threw his closet open to be greeted by several orange jumpsuits.

'Back to this? I think it's time to do something about this!' He grabbed the wallet he would always have and rummaged through it.

"Not bad Gama-Chan! You have enough for what I need!" Then, Naruto remembered how hated he was in this time. 'Damn, looks like I'll have to use a Henge.'

He quickly molded his chakra without any hand seals to see how well he could perform the Henge without them.

"Not bad" Naruto said to his 'new' reflection. In front of him, was a boy he had befriended while training with Jiraiya.

"Better get to it!" Naruto quickly darted out of his apartment and ran with his newly acquired speed to the nearest tailor he could find.

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It was still early in the day and not many people were out so Naruto didn't run into many people. When he arrived at the tailor, the owner was just unlocking the door when he noticed the henged Naruto.

"Oh, hello there! You must be new in…" however, the man noticed that the 'boy' in front of him was definitely under a henge.

"Drop it…" Naruto looked surprised. 'Is it that bad?' he mentally asked himself until he noticed the man's eyes. 'SHIT! A HYUUGA!!' he mentally shouted.

Naruto looked downcast as he released the jutsu and was surprised to see the Hyuga grinning.

"W… what?" he asked the grinning man.

"I'm guessing that you're Konoha's number one prankster?" asked the Hyuga.

"Y…yes…"

"Naruto. I see that you aren't using a henge to change your appearance and I have not met you before, but I know that this isn't how you look. Care to explain?"

'Damn, twenty minutes in and I already have to explain.'

"Well, I assume you know that I'm a Jinchuriki, am I correct?" The Hyuga nodded and held the door to his store open, motioning for Naruto to enter which Naruto decided to do.

"Right, well, about five years ago, the fox attempted to break the seal when I was in a 'weakened' state."

'Weakened my ass, he was beaten I bet' the hyuga thought. 'Poor kid, he doesn't even know of his lineage.'

"Well, he nearly broke out" the hyuga paled when he heard this but remained quite.

"The seal had to speed up the process of absorbing the fox's chakra and adding it to my own."

'? Was that what the seal was designed for?' the Hyuga thought.

"When that happened, it started to show me some of the moments in time that the fox had seen as well as shorten its own life span. When I saw a few of it's memories, I also noticed how much I looked like the Yondaime, especially without my whisker marks which had faded the day the seal had sped up."

'Has he figured it out?'

Naruto grinned. The Hyuga's face was showing several different emotions.

"One of those memories was from October 10th. That day was the last day it would walk free. In that memory, I learned something… interesting… I'm guessing that you already can guess what that was…"

The Hyuga nodded but said nothing, just in case the blonde Jinchuriki was bluffing.

"Just before the fourth sealed the fox-teme, he said a few things that, thanks to the fox's enhanced senses, he was able to hear. Let's just say, that I would be in danger if I wasn't strong enough to protect my self from the enemies of my father who earned the nickname, the yellow flash of Konoha."

"Can you prove it?" the Hyuga said quickly. 'The Sandaime might not want to release this information just yet.'

"Yes I can, and I intend to. The Namikaze estate disappeared on the day that my father died. I'm guessing that there was a powerful Fuuin jutsu on the house that would activate a barrier around the estate when the last Namikaze died and would reappear the day an heir was found. I'm guessing that if I sign the title of the estate in blood and I am his heir, then the estate will reappear."

"So you hid what you truly looked like so that your father's enemies wouldn't come looking for you?"

Naruto grinned. "Pretty much, but it was also good training trying to keep a henge going for five years."

"You must have released the jutsu sometimes, right?"

"When I went to bed."

The Hyuga nodded. "So why are you here?" he asked.

"I've decided to stop disguising myself now that I'm a Genin and now I need clothes that fit me."

"Anything special in mind?"

"My father's outfit, with a few modifications."  
The Hyuga smiled.

"Truly your father's son."

"Indeed."

Naruto then gave the specifics on the outfit and half an hour later, he was walking out of the store in an outfit mirroring his fathers. He wore black shinobi styled pants and a black t-shirt with a mesh tank top underneath. His sandals were also black and wrappings covered his ankles. His coat was white with red flames on the bottom of the coat. Naruto's shurikan holster was on his right thigh and he had a pack where he usually kept it. The coat had many pockets for scrolls on the inside.

In Naruto's hands, were bags with the same outfits and a few training outfits that he had picked out.

Naruto noticed that more people were out than there were earlier and decided that he should walk through town under a henge of his former self.

He quickly dropped his new stuff off at home and decided to talk to the Sandaime Hokage about his new look so that he would be able to walk around without a henge. Plus, he was sick of the apartment he was currently living in.

'Jii-sans alive…' was the thought that kept passing through Naruto's mind. This time would definitely be different.

He arrived at the Hokage tower and walked up to the receptionist for the Hokage.

"Hey there Naruto!" she said as soon as she saw him.

"Hi! Is jii-san busy?" he asked.

The receptionist shook her head. "Nope, just doing his usual load of paperwork."

Naruto shuddered at this. He remembered when Tsunade had said that she would probably be naming him as Rokudaime in about a year but he had to get a feel for what had to be done. He was quickly given the task of doing all of the paperwork which Tsunade was glad to give. Although, Naruto had quickly found a loophole to the bane of all Kage's.

'Wonder if jii-san ever figured it out?'

"Thanks!" he said to the receptionist as he walked past the two ANBU guards stationed at the door leading into the Hokage's room.

Naruto pushed the door open and was happy to see that the Sandaime was quietly muttering under his breath while going over a trade offer with the land of rice.

When he heard the door open, Sarutobi was glad to see that Naruto had decided to visit him. He hadn't seen him for about a week, since he had met Konohamaru.

"Naruto! How are you doing?"

Naruto closed the door behind him and quickly preformed a few seals that the aged Hokage recognized.

'A privacy jutsu? How did Naruto learn that?'

Naruto grinned before he let the henge release. The Sandaime Hokage was a man who wasn't surprised by many things. Sure he had fallen victim to the Oiroke no Jutsu, but what male wouldn't. Orochimaru had defected from the village, but Sarutobi could sense it coming contrary to what he had wanted to believe, this however shocked him to the core.

"M…Minato?" he whispered.

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "Nope, just his son!"

This shocked the Hokage out of his shock induced state.

"You know?!" Naruto nodded. "It's like this…" Naruto then proceeded to tell the third Hokage the same story that he had told the Hyuga tailor.

"Wow" the Hokage exclaimed while he leaned back in his chair. "You fooled everyone for five years with a basic henge! Even Hyuga's."

Naruto grinned. 'Not really, but if only!' he thought.

"Pretty much" the blonde replied.

"So, I'm guessing that you'll want to be moving into the Namikaze estate?"

"After I sign the deed to the estate."

"You're smarter than I thought Naruto, no offence."

"None taken. So when will you have that ready for me?"

Sarutobi leaned forward and thought for a moment. "Come back after you meet your Genin squad."

"Care to tell me who my sensei will be?"

"Sorry, you'll find out later though. Anyways Naruto, you should get to the academy so that you stay as a Genin. If you're not there when they announce the teams, you'll be dropped from the roster and be put back into the academy!"

Naruto smiled. "I don't really feel like it. How about this, if I can perform one A ranked jutsu, you'll let me have the day off and I'll go to the academy around lunch time."

The Hokage smiled. "Fine with me, but it can't be kage bunshin."

Naruto smiled as well. "I'm not a one trick pony jii-san." Naruto then held out his right hand and molded some chakra in his hand while spinning it. Then he condensed it and formed a small blue ball of chakra in his hand.

"Look familiar?" he asked the Sandaime who had his jaw on his desk.

"The Rasengan?" he asked himself.

"Yup, it took me about a week to master it."

"A…a…a…w…w…week?"

Naruto nodded. "I read about it in a jutsu scroll I found at the library. Someone had checked it out and forgotten it. Yeah, it had some good descriptions but few instructions, so I just improvised."

"Improvised?" The Sandaime asked.

Naruto nodded as he let the condensed ball of chakra fade out of existence.

"About a year ago I found out about it and saw that it required loads of chakra control. Luckily, I found a way around that with the kage bunshin which I had learned not long before that by accident."

"Accident?"

Naruto nodded as he sat down in the seat across from the aged Hokage.

"I had seen someone perform that technique when I was ten and had tried to copy it. Took me about a year and found that I wasn't throwing enough chakra into it. The same week that we were taught the bunshin no jutsu at the academy; I read up on the differences between the two and found that the kage bunshin no jutsu needs a lot of chakra while the bunshin no jutsu needs very little."

The Sandaime Hokage nodded. 'He truly understands it; he's smarter than he lets on.'

"So, I just had the clone help me manipulate the chakra in my hand. After all, three hands are better than one!"

"… I didn't know that there were any books or scrolls in existence that taught the steps to the Rasengan."

'DAMN!' Naruto screamed mentally. 'What do I say?' He then quickly brought out another excuse.

"There aren't, but the Kyuubi had been fairly intelligent and even though he is a teme, he kinda helped me figure out how to do it."

The Sandaime went white as a sheet. "What?"

Naruto smiled. "Don't worry; I'm stronger than he is so he can't actually influence me into doing anything, even if he is an ass!"

This led to another question.

"How long have you known? I thought that you had no knowledge of your _condition_ prior to the Mizuki incident!"

Naruto sighed. He hated to lie but he couldn't just blurt out the truth that he was from the future.

"After one of the many beatings during my childhood, I was dragged into the shithole that is my mind. There, I met the Kyuubi who explained how he had wound up in me. I wasn't actually that angry with the fourth for what he did to me, especially when I learnt that he was my father."

"… What else do you know?"

Naruto sighed. "Well, I can speculate over a lot of things, like where the other half of Kyuubi's chakra is, but it's all speculation and I don't really care about it."

Sarutobi nodded. He knew of the sealing, but he didn't know where the other half of the chakra was sealed.

"Well, what are you going to be doing until lunch?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto grinned. "Well, two things. First thing, I'm going to help you figure out a way to keep the council calm while you tell them of my heritage."

The Hokage flinched at this statement. He had completely forgotten about the council and their hatred towards Naruto.

"Second, I'm going to tell you that I know of a way to complete all of your paperwork without actually having to do it!"

The Hokage stared at Naruto before chuckling. "Don't tell me that the Kyuubi has knowledge of how your father managed to pull _that_ off!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I thought of it myself, but I bet that my father used the same method."

Sarutobi's eyebrows were raised. 'Did he actually figure out a way?'

"Your father said that it was so simple, that a kage wouldn't even think of it."

Naruto grinned. "Then that means that I figured out what he was doing! It's still pretty complicated to certain groups of people, but for others, it's pretty simple."

"What is it?" the Hokage asked, getting slightly impatient.

"I'll tell you on one condition!" Naruto said.

"Condition?"

Naruto nodded. "If you find this information to be correct, which it is, then you'll give me access to all of the jutsu scrolls in the Hokage's library!"

The Sandaime Hokage looked at Naruto for a moment, considering his offer. "Only if it's accurate!"

"Also, you can never tell anyone this secret! Including your successor."

Sarutobi nodded. "I agree!"

Naruto smiled his widest smile ever. 'I'm gonna love his reaction!'

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." Naruto let the statement hang in the air while the aged Hokage thought about it for a moment.  
Naruto was not disappointed by Sarutobi's reaction.

The most powerful shinobi in the village, the man known as the professor for knowing all of the jutsu in the village excluding clan jutsu, and the hiraishin, had begun to beat his head on his own desk while muttering one word repeatedly.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…"

Naruto had started laughing, holding his gut and doubled over laughing. The Hokage had never felt so humiliated.

'Damn you Minato! Even after death, you get revenge on me!!' the Hokage screamed in his head.

"Oh…MAN!! I'll never… forget… that reaction!!" Naruto said as he tried to catch his breath.

"So Naruto," the Hokage said as he halted the self inflicted beating. "If you already had all of this knowledge, why did you fail the Genin exams three times?"

Naruto had forgotten about his past failures and used his new lying ability to satisfy the Sandaime.

"Kakashi Hatake. I wanted him as my sensei and the only way to do that was to be on the same team as Sasuke Uchiha seeing as how Kakashi would definitely be training the last Uchiha to use the Sharingan. Then there is also how the class is divided into Genin teams. Rookie of the year with the dead last for example."

Sandaime nodded with a smile on his face. 'Naruto is practically a genius.'

"Well then, today has been… enlightening." Naruto grinned as the aging Hokage stood up to escort him out of the office. "I'll summon the council so that we may tell them about your heritage, only after you have met Kakashi."

Naruto nodded. 'Thank god he doesn't remember me asking about who my sensei was…'

**_Well then, I hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Any questions, then message me or post a comment. I have a lot planned but i need some advice about Gaara. If you have suggestions on this, then message me!_**

**_Chapter 2 will be up in about a week!_**


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2: Introductions

_**I'm so glad that people actually like my fanfic. I hope that many people find this next chapter satisfying. I'm posting it earlier than I thought. It didn't take as much time as I thought writing it. Two days, kinda weird. And that's with me, hanging out with friends, doing chores, and going to work. Well here you go all of you…**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**_

_**Chapter 2: Introductions**_

Naruto was standing on top of the Hokage Monument wondering what he should do for the next five hours. It was seven in the morning and he promised the Sandaime that he would be at the academy at noon so that he could meet his team. Naruto sighed as he remembered how much he had hated his team at first. The only thing he really liked was Sakura and even then he had moments where he would doubt his love for her.

Looking out at the village, he thought about all those he was going to try and save.

'_I may have my work cut out for me…_'

Then his thoughts took another turn. '_Mother… I know you're out there, but why did you leave_?' He remembered when he had finally found out who his mother was.

_**Flashback**_

_Naruto stared at the multiple rings in the eyes of Pein. _

"_Now then, Jinchuriki of Kyuubi, the time has finally come."_

"_Fuck off…" Naruto whispered. _

"_You should never have challenged a god such as myself. Your sensei Jiraiya suffered the consequences. You should have learned from his mistakes."_

_Naruto let his rage consume him at the mention of the old pervert's name. _

"_Never say that name again you son of a __**BITCH!"**__ Naruto was quickly surrounded by the Kyuubi's chakra and tail after tail started to form. _

_When the tails reached four and the transformation was completed, Pein lashed out. Using the small puddles surrounding them, he preformed his next technique. The water from the many puddles shot into the clouds above them. The clouds quickly began to contort into different shapes until it formed a large duplicate of Pein himself. The duplicate looked down on the mini-Kyuubi and inhaled._

"_**Hyouton, Makai Hisame (ice style, Hell hail)" **__announced Pein_. _The duplicate formed into a giant meteor which shot towards the transformed Naruto._

_Naruto was about to take action when the meteor suddenly exploded. Pein whirled around only to have a long katana thrown through his face. The four tailed Naruto turned to look at the new comer only to quickly fall to the ground and feeling the Kyuubi's chakra recede in fear. _

_Just before he fell into an unconscious state, he saw a red haired kunoichi smile warmly at him "Good luck, son…"_

_When he came to, he was back in Konoha and in a hospital bed. When he told Tsunade what had happened and what he had heard the woman say to him, the beautiful Hokage had no choice but to tell him about his parents. _

_**Flashback ends.**_

Naruto smiled. He at least had a mother who was looking out for him. The Kyuubi had never told Naruto why he was afraid of Kushina and refused to talk about what had happened.

Naruto looked at his arm and flexed it. "Wonder how strong I am…?" He started to think of different ways to test his strength out when it hit him. The two best Taijutsu users in the village would be a great way to test his strength.

"This'll be fun."

Naruto jumped from the Hokage monument and plummeted towards the ground below. Naruto focused chakra into his feet and quickly clung to the stone face of his father.

"Not bad control…" Naruto said to himself. He quickly started to run down the monument and then towards the training grounds.

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Sakura was off to a bad start that morning. It had been two weeks since she had seen her precious Sasuke-kun. The academy had given them the time off as congratulations for passing their exams. Her red dress flapped in the gentle breeze flowing through the village. She was thinking of what she would be doing now that she was officially a ninja.

'_I wish mom told me more_…' She thought to herself. When she asked her, Mrs. Haruno had just shrugged and told her that she would see soon enough.

Just as she passed the Yamanaka flower shop, she heard someone walk past her.

Sakura glared at the person and matched their speed.

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Ino Yamanaka was having an interesting morning so far. Her father had accidentally woken her up with some 'exciting' news that he was telling his wife.

When Ino had gotten downstairs after getting ready for the day, she had found out that the Yamanaka had accidentally listened in on a conversation that a Hyuga was having that morning. Inoichi looked positively excited.

"… and he knows how to fool the Hyugas!"

Ino didn't care about what he was raving about at the moment for she saw a flash of pink walk past. She didn't say a word to her parents who were in deep conversation about the council as she ran out the door.

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Naruto was half way across the village within mere seconds. '_Speed is fantastic_!'

He wondered if his endurance was even greater as well. '_If my endurance went up as well, then I don't know what will stop me_!'

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when he had to jump back to avoid colliding with two people he didn't want to see until lunch. The two kunoichi however, ended up running into Naruto and were knocked down. "Sorry!" they both said in unison.

When they looked up, there wasn't anybody there.

"Weird…" Ino said. She could have sworn they had just plowed into the Yondaime.

She didn't notice that Sakura had already gotten up and was running down the street.

"DAMN!"

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Naruto was jumping from building to building. '_It's too early to deal with those two, especially in this time_!'

He finally landed in a tree at the training grounds that he had dubbed, the field of eyebrows.

He noticed that Neji and Tenten were there with the two that he was seeking out were about to train together. Naruto was about to turn back and come back later when he heard a voice call out.

"Come out of there or else."

Naruto looked back at the group to see that Neji Hyuga was looking straight at him, Byakugan activated.

'_Damn it, I have to deal with that fate shit of his again_.'

Naruto sighed as he jumped out of the tree he had been hiding in.

Maito Gai turned around and had to stop himself from asking one thing. '_Minato_?'

Naruto saw the look on Gai's face and smiled.

"I know what you're thinking, you'll find out at a council meeting this afternoon."

Gai nodded, clearly trusting the new arrival. Tenten was looking at Naruto sizing him up. '_He's cute, but how strong is he_?' Neji was glaring daggers at the blonde and Lee was showing polite interest in him.

"HELLO THERE MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND, I AM MAITO GAI AND THIS IS MY GENIN SQUAD, WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH!?"

Naruto didn't flinch at the volume of Gai's voice, at least not physically.

'_He needs to tone it down a bit_…'

"Maito Guy, my name is Naruto and I have just passed my Genin exam a few weeks ago. I am here for I wish to challenge one of your Genin to a spar to see if I am any good" Naruto said in a pleasant yet firm tone.

"Why would you choose our squad?" Neji asked abruptly.

Naruto glared at the Hyuga. "It's not your squad I'm interested in, it's him." At this, Naruto pointed at Rock Lee.

"YOSH! I SHALL HELP YOU WITH YOUR PREDICAMENT AND HELP YOU IGNITE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH!!" Lee yelled loudly. "IF I CANNOT DO THIS, THEN I SHALL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH A BOULDER STRAPPED TO MY BACK!!"

"LEE, IF YOU CANNOT DO THIS, THEN I SHALL RUN TO SUNA AND BACK WITH MY WEIGHTS DOUBLED WITHIN A DAY!!" After Gai announced this, Naruto, Neji, and Tenten knew what was coming.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!!"

"GAI-SENSEI!!"

"LEE!!"

Naruto shut his eyes quickly to avoid the Genjutsu.

"Tell me something, can either of you figure that Genjutsu out?" Naruto asked Neji and Tenten who had also closed their eyes.

"Nope…" they both said. '_I don't care who he is, at least he has the sense to close his eyes to avoid this'_ thought Tenten.

They counted to thirty before opening their eyes to find that Gai and Lee had just broken apart as had the Genjutsu.

"So now that all that's done, let's do this." Naruto said. Lee got into his Goken stance as had Naruto.

Everyone present was surprised at this. They hadn't known of any other Goken users besides the two spandex wearing ninja.

Naruto and Lee quickly charged each other. Lee was on the offensive as he threw a punch through Naruto's guard which was dodged. Lee followed up with a roundhouse kick which Naruto blocked. Naruto then took the offensive as he grabbed Lee's leg and used Lee's momentum to spin him around and throw him at a tree. Lee quickly recovered and twisted through the air so that he could use the tree to spring off of. He quickly planted his feet on the tree and pushed off using the force of the throw. He tore through the air towards Naruto, who had quickly jumped into the air to avoid Lee and the force that was carried with him.

Naruto landed back in his Goken stance only to find Lee right behind him.

'_Time to use the lotus_…' Naruto thought. Lee threw a left hook at Naruto only to find him gone. Lee didn't have anytime to react as he felt himself being launched into the air by a kick to the chin. As he was soaring through the air Lee sensed Naruto behind him.

"_**Kage Buyou.**_" Naruto whispered. Lee's eyes widened. "How can you use this technique?"

Naruto smirked. "Simple, I'm a genius at hard work." Naruto flipped through a few hand seals activating a jutsu that created chakra which bound Lee to Naruto just as Lee's wrappings would.

Naruto was spinning quickly with Lee in his grasp.

"_**Omote Renge" **_Naruto said as he jumped away a split second before impact.

Gai was struggling from having his jaw dropping.

"I…Incredible."

Lee had stood up and shook the dirt off of him. He was feeling the after effects from being on the wrong end of the lotus technique.

"You alright Lee?" Naruto asked worriedly. '_I think that might have been too much…'_

Even though Lee was still recovering from the lotus, he noticed something wrong with Naruto.

'_He doesn't look fatigued at all_!'

"I think you have won, my youthful friend…" he huffed.

"You sure?" Naruto asked. '_Maybe I _did_ hit him to hard with that!'_

"You are hardly even winded from using the initial lotus while I have taken much damage from it. If this were to continue, I would lose very quickly. I must say, you are a worthy rival."

"INDEED HE IS LEE!! HE WILL MAKE A GREAT RIVAL FOR YOU!!" Gai quickly yelled.

'_Shit, don't tell me…_'

"YOSH!! NARUTO, YOU SHALL BE MY ETERNAL RIVAL AND I WILL STRIVE TO DEFEAT YOU!!" Lee announced.

'_DDDDAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!_' Naruto screamed mentally.

Naruto spent most of the morning at the training grounds discussing the Goken style with Gai and Lee while Neji trained his Byakugan and Tenten was throwing kunai at a target.

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Sakura was fuming. Ino Yamanaka had somehow gained the lead in their little race and had gotten the seat right next to Sasuke. Sakura had to settle for being on the seat next to Ino.

Ino however, was very happy. She got to be next to the class heartthrob, Sasuke.

Sasuke on the other hand, wasn't happy at all, especially today. He had to sit next to not one, but two annoying fan girls at the same time.

'_Where the hell is the dobe? With him here, I would at least only have to deal with one fan girl._'

Iruka had already started to call out the teams and was reading out team five when an ANBU appeared and handed him a slip of paper.

He read it quickly.

_**Iruka, **_

_**Naruto will be late today and will not arrive until noon. He already knows that he must wait for his sensei along with his team in the class room. Do not drop him from the roster for he has my permission to not be there A little warning for you when he arrives, he has 'changed' since you last saw him. You will understand at the council meeting that I have called for this afternoon.**_

_**Sarutobi.**_

_**Sandaime Hokage.**_

'_Changed_?' Iruka thought. '_How so_?'

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Naruto was sitting at Ichiraku's and had already explained what he had told the Sandaime.

Ayame and her father were both impressed with Naruto's deception and had praised him by giving him a free bowl of ramen.

Thirteen bowls later, "Thanks for the ramen!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he headed towards the academy. Naruto looked at the people around him as he walked and was surprised to see their reactions. They were staring at him with awe. '_I must look like my father more than I thought. At least their not staring at me with hatred_!' Naruto smiled as he passed a group of children playing a game of tag.

'_No matter what, I will protect everyone this time!'_

He continued walking through the village, remembering all of the good times he had had. '_I'm glad I have a second chance. This time, I'll make sure everything turns out right.'_

At this, he jumped up onto a building and felt the cool breeze against his face.

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'_What did I do to deserve to be on a team with Naruto?'_ Sakura thought. Here she was, sitting on a bench eating her lunch, alone, no Sasuke in sight. '_I mean, it's great that I'm with Sasuke, but why Naruto? And where the hell is that baka anyways?'_

She sighed again and stared at the tree in front of her. Then she remembered the look on Ino's face when Team 7 was announced. '_At least that put Ino-pig in her place!'_

'_**Shannaro, we rule!'**_

She started to hum to herself when she noticed a blonde boy walk past her. Her immediate reaction was to hit him over the head for she thought it was Naruto. Then she actually looked at him.

'_Who's he? He looks like the Yondaime! Maybe he's related?'_

The blonde boy glanced over his shoulder at the girl for a moment before turning his gaze else where.

'_He's kinda cute!'_

'_**He's hot!'**_

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'_I don't know how to deal with this stuff again' _thought Naruto_. She was too hard to deal with when we were all team 7; I don't know how I pulled through with all that abuse. I mean, I love her, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be…'_

Naruto was thinking this when he looked back at the pink haired kunoichi that he had been engaged to in his own time.

'_Well, if it happens, it happens.'_

He walked through the front doors of the academy and walked up to the classroom he had not set foot in for what must have been years. Well, technically two weeks.

When Naruto opened the door, he was greeted by a snoring Iruka.

'_Maybe I shouldn't… Nah, who am I kidding.'_

Naruto did the sign for his most infamous jutsu.

"HEY IRUKA-SENSEI!" yelled Naruto as he activated his jutsu.

Iruka had been having a pleasant dream that had involved the Ichiraku ramen stand, and a dangerous kunoichi known as Anko Mitarashi when he was awoken by a loud voice.

He opened his eyes only to be knocked unconscious by what he saw.

There, in all her nude glory, was Anko Mitarashi. Well, almost nude. It seemed that there were clouds of smoke covering the most 'intimate' areas.

Naruto dispelled his 'sexy jutsu, Iruka style' and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Maybe that was a little _to_ much."

Once he had been awoken by Naruto, Iruka was quickly told what the Sandaime and the Hyuga had been told and to say that Iruka was impressed was an understatement.

"I'm so proud to have had a student like you Naruto. Although, you should tune it down with the pranks now."

Naruto shrugged. "We'll see Iruka-sensei, it's just too much fun to quit."

Naruto and Iruka had then sat down and talked about some of the things that Naruto actually knew how to do. Naruto was of course, being as discreet as possible so that he didn't seem too suspicious. He already was mentally berating himself for showing the Sandaime the Rasengan and he didn't want another slip up to happen just because he wanted to get some attention. Just then, the bell signifying that lunch was over rang.

Naruto had decided not to sit down but to stand at the window.

Ino Yamanaka was the last one in the classroom thanks to her new team. Choji Akamichi had insisted that they stay put until he had finished what was left of his lunch. Ino was about to leave the Akamichi and the lazy Shikamaru Nara when she remembered that her father had made her promise to stay with her team as much as possible, even if that meant missing out on sitting next to the Uchiha.

'_He probably knew about this whole team match up thing.' _When she entered the classroom, she was surprised to see the man she had run into that morning.

'_So it wasn't just my imagination!!_' she thought.

As she took a seat on the front row, she studied the man that was staring passively out the window.

He was tall, handsome, nearly everything she wanted in a man.

Then she noticed something.

'_He's not that old! He's at least my age, which means I might have a chance! Now I have a shot at not one hot guy, but two!'_

Iruka watched the classroom as they all studied the class as they stared at the new and improved Naruto.

'_Naruto made me promise not to tell anyone so I won't._'

"All right class," he said, immediately getting their attention. "It's time for you to meet your Jonin sensei. They shall be arriving shortly."

As he finished, the door slid open to reveal a man and a woman.

'_Genma and Kurenai…' _Iruka thought.

"Team 8, come with me please" Kurenai announced.

Many males in the room stared at the beautiful Kunoichi now in their midst.

'_Not again…' _Kurenai thought as she watched nearly every single male practically drool.

Except for three of them. Iruka, Sasuke, and Naruto.

'_Iruka and the Uchiha are to be expected, but who's the blonde?'_ she thought to herself. '_He's not that old, but he holds himself like a Kage.'_

She looked at his posture, he was facing the window, arms folded, unblinking.

'_He looks like the fourth!'_ she realized. '_Maybe he's new to the village, but that's a Konoha headband!'_

Shino, Kiba, and Hinata had approached their new sensei to see that she was staring at the unfamiliar person in the room.

The blonde, had obviously sensed Kurenai's gaze upon him and mouthed something that five people in the room had understood.

Kurenai nodded and walked out of the room with her new Genin squad following her.

Genma had watched the emotions flick across Kurenai's face and was thinking the same thoughts as she was.

What he was surprised at was what the blonde had 'said'.

He understood what he meant and couldn't help but be even more curious.

"Team six, meet me out front." With that said, Genma used the Shushin no Jutsu to disappear, leaving his new Genin squad excited about what they might learn as they left the class room.

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After about an hour, there were only two teams left, Team 10, and Team 7.

Ino and Sakura were now on both sides of the last Uchiha, who was staring at Naruto, wondering who this new person was and why there was going to be a council meeting that would clarify things.

Shikamaru was occasionally glancing at the tall blonde who had barely moved since silently speaking to the female Jonin about the council meeting.

'_Poor dad, he has to go to another troublesome council meeting…'_

Choji was sitting next to his friend, happily munching on his chips, but he was also curious as to who the blonde was seeing as how Shikamaru was taking notice.

Ino and Sakura were curious, and Ino had tried to work up the courage to speak to him, but found that she just couldn't.

Iruka had been watching the two teams and silently chuckled.

'_I wouldn't be surprised if Shikamaru figured it out' _he thought.

He finally stood up and stretched.

"Well you guys, I'd better get going. Your sensei will be here soon, I hope."

The fact that he hadn't specified which teams' sensei left five of the Genin extremely curious.

Before he walked to the door, he rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder and whispered to him, "Be careful Naruto…"

Naruto only nodded. Iruka walked out of the classroom leaving the six Genin alone.

Naruto looked like he was doing some intense thinking on the outside, but on the inside was a different story.

'_Oh man I love this!'_ he shouted mentally. '_I can feel the curiosity rolling off of all of them! Wonder when one of them will try to speak to me?!' _His question was quickly answered by the second blonde in the room.

"You kinda young for a Jonin, are you really one of our sensei?"

Naruto paid no attention to the young yet beautiful blonde.

Ino was feeling irritated that her question had been met with nothing but silence.

'_Who the hell does he think he is?'_

"Hey, I asked you a question!" she yelled.

This time, she was met with a stare from the larger blonde.

'_Wow, his eyes are really intense…'_ she thought. Then, she felt her face heat up. '_I hate it when I blush…'_

Naruto had a slightly similar thought to Ino's reaction. '_She's cute when she blushes.'_

Naruto shifted his gaze from the Yamanaka to the door of the classroom.

'_Well at least _he's_ here.'_

The door opened to reveal the chain smoking sensei of Team 10.

His gaze quickly went to the blonde Jinchuriki.

'_Father was right, he really does look like his father now! I must say, I'm impressed that he's hidden this from all of his for this long. He's definitely the strongest Genin out of this year!'_

His gaze then fell upon the Uchiha and the two fan girls that were now staring at the latest arrival.

'_I pity Kakashi now…'_

"All right, team 10, follow me please." Shikamaru yawned at this as he stood up along with his 'pleasantly plump' friend.

Ino however, got up very reluctantly seeing as how she would be leaving her rival in the company of two hot guys.

'_Maybe I'll see the new guy around the village later…'_

As they were walking out, Asuma looked at Naruto who quickly met his gaze.

"I assume that he'll be here in at least half an hour" Asuma said to the Namikaze.

Naruto nodded as Asuma closed the door behind him.

"Damn Naruto-baka! Why the hell is he so late?!" Sakura yelled out half an hour later.

Even though he said nothing, it was quite apparent that Sasuke wondered the same thing.

"Who says that he isn't here?" Naruto asked while watching the sky outside.

Sakura was taken aback by the question from the Yondaime look-a-like.

"We would have sensed him by now sensei!" Sakura stated.

"I'm not so sure about that. What do you think teme?" he asked as he looked towards the Uchiha.

At this, Sasuke was glaring daggers at the blonde.

"What the hell is going on?" he growled. '_The only one that calls me that is Naruto, but he can't be?'_

"For a prodigy, you're kind of a disappointment. You couldn't spot a simple henge for six years; then again, neither did the Hyuga's or the Hokage. In fact, nobody else detected it at all."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked angrily as he stood up.

Naruto shook his head. "Calm down Sasuke, if we're going to be a team, we need to act like one."

"How can you be Naruto? You look similar, but the…" he was cut off when he sensed the same chakra pattern that he knew to be Naruto's coming from the blonde in front of him.

"The Naruto you knew was just an act, well; I do love ramen and pranks…"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Why did you hide under a henge then?"

"Because of my lineage. I didn't want anyone to recognize me for who I truly was until I could at least defend myself. Not much else to it really."

Sakura's mouth had dropped open. The annoying little blonde that had annoyed her from the start of the academy, the blonde that could never sit still, the one that could never outshine her precious Sasuke-kun, had deceived the entire village with a simple henge and had stood still for well over an hour.

'…'

Not even her inner self had any comments right now. She was slightly berating herself for thinking that the blonde had been hot since lunch.

"So… We're waiting for our sensei then?" she finally asked.

Naruto nodded. "Hopefully, he won't be much longer."

He walked towards the other side of the room and leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

Naruto sighed when he felt the glare from Sasuke.

"What?" he snapped. '_He was only glaring, why'd I snap at him?'_

Even Sasuke seemed derailed for a moment before returning to the task at hand.

"How strong are you _really_?" he asked.

Naruto just shrugged. "I don't really know, I haven't had to fight that often so…"

Sasuke nodded. '_He could be strong enough to not hold me back, but I think that may not be the issue.'_

His gaze turned to his pink haired teammate who was staring at Naruto.

"At least you don't wear that target you call an outfit" Sasuke said with a smirk as returned his gaze to the blonde.

Naruto smirked at this as well. "It was fun acting like an idiot while it lasted."

Sasuke nodded. '_Perhaps this won't be so bad. He seems sensible. Then again, he may prove me wrong.'_

Suddenly, the door started to open and before Sasuke or Sakura knew what was happening, Naruto had thrown a kunai at whoever was entering.

When they had finally realized what had happened, they turned towards the door to see that the kunai had been caught.

'_Fast…'_ was the only thing that the two Genin could think as they glanced at the new arrival and Naruto.

The man who caught the projectile was a tall silver haired man, wearing a regular Jonin outfit with a mask hiding most of his face and his Hitai-ate slanted down, covering his left eye.

'_He's changed; he looks more like his father'_ thought one Kakashi Hatake.

The visible eye was closed in an upside down u shape, indicating that he was smiling.

"I must say, that kunai was thrown rather impressively. However, you didn't know if I was an ally or an enemy."

Naruto grinned. "I knew who you were Kakashi Hatake."

Said Jonin's eyebrow raised in interest.

"Then why throw it?"

"Because you were late."

"Well, I saw it coming, but at least you were on your guard, just in case."

Naruto raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really? Well, did you see this coming?" he asked as he pointed at what Kakashi had caught.

Kakashi looked at the kunai in his hand to find that there was a tag wrapped around the handle.

'_SHIT'_ was the one thought of the copy nin as the tag went off.

What happened next was not what was expected. Instead of an explosion, orange smoke quickly erupted from the tag, covering Kakashi completely.

'_This is a Jonin? Pathetic'_ Sasuke though, however, he was attempting to hide a smirk.

Sakura was having trouble keeping her inner self in check.

'_**Shannaro, that was totally awesome. Way to go Naruto!'**_

'_I agree…'_

When the smoke cleared, there stood a completely orange Kakashi.

"Doesn't look that bad on you Kakashi!" Naruto said who was chuckling. _'The number one prankster in Konohagakure is back with the vengeance.'_

'_Well, that was… interesting' _Kakashi thought_. ' It would probably be funnier if it weren't preformed against me.' _"Meet me on the roof in five minutes"

With that said, he disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

Without another word, the three Genin went up to the roof of the building, not saying a word to each other on the way. Sasuke was silently admiring the talent that Naruto had shown. '_Not bad dobe…'_

When they reached the roof, they found a Kakashi that seemed to be perfectly fine leaning on the railing. There was no orange left whatsoever.

"You're pretty talented Kakashi-sensei" said a grinning Naruto.

"Same to you."

Kakashi then indicated with his hand for them to sit down in front of him.

"So, now that we're all here, let's introduce ourselves shall we?"

Before Sakura could ask what he meant, Naruto stood up.

"My name is Naruto, my hobbies include training and pranks, my dislikes are people who blame others for something they have no control over."

'_Being a Jinchuriki…'_ Kakashi thought.

"I have many likes, ramen, friends for example. My dream is to be one of the greatest Hokages to ever have lived."

Kakashi nodded. '_Interesting.'_

"Okay, you next pinky" he said, pointing at Sakura.

Sakura scowled at her nickname "Oh, my name is Sakura Haruno and I like…" she looked over at Sasuke. squeal. "My dream is to…" SQUEAL

Kakashi mentally sighed. '_Seems like another fan girl, great_.'

"What about your dislikes?" he asked.

"NARUTO!" she said loudly. The blonde however reacted differently than expected.

"Like I care!" he muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. '_Where the hell did that come from?'_

Sakura and Sasuke looked shocked. _'Did he just say that?'_

Kakashi watched their reactions for a moment before continuing the introductions.

"Last one."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There is nearly nothing that I do like as there are many things that I dislike. I don't have a dream; it's more of an ambition. I intend to revive my clan and kill a certain… someone."

'_That's to be expected.'_

"All right, and my name is Kakashi Hatake. We shall meet tomorrow at training ground 7 at eight. There, we shall conduct a survival test."

Sakura was about to say something when Naruto beat her to it yet again.

"Anything in particular that we need to bring?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Bring your ninja gear with you. All the information you need is on these sheets." As he said this, he handed the three of them three sheets of paper.

"One more thing" he said as he turned away from them. "I suggest that you don't eat any breakfast, unless you enjoy throwing up." With that said, he disappeared in another whirlwind of leaves.

Naruto got up and looked at his teammates. "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to eat breakfast. He didn't order us to skip it, and besides, we're going to need all our strength seeing as how he said it was a survival test."

Sasuke nodded, understanding what he meant.

Sakura however, was having doubts about what Naruto had just said. "Naruto-baka, what would you know?"

At this, Naruto felt his anger flare. "Shut the hell up Sakura! I happen to know what kind of test he's going to be giving us and I for one want to be prepared, so if you won't mind, keep your stupid comments to yourself!"

Once he was done, he quickly used Shushin leaving his teammates stunned.

'_What happened to him?' _Sakura thought.

'_It's about time he stopped taking that crap from her'_ thought Sasuke. _'Maybe he isn't such a baka after all.'_

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Naruto reappeared a few blocks away, feeling angry and guilty, yet satisfied.

'_Damn, now I get it. It's those damn hormones thanks to the transfer… Oh well, it can't be helped, it's not like what I said wasn't what I've been thinking on my own.'_

Naruto looked up at the Hokage monument in the distance. _'Probably should go see if Jii-san is ready yet…'_

As he set off towards the Hokage tower, another figure sat watching him. '_He's definitely better than what the file said' _thought a Sharingan wielding Jonin.

'_It's kinda eerie how much he looks like you Minato-sensei… Well, I better head to the council meeting to see what's so important to call all of us…'_

He quickly set off in the same direction of Naruto.

_**In the manga, they never say Kushina Uzumaki is actually dead. She won't be too involved in part one of this fic, however, she will appear at least two more times before the end of part one. They may be flashbacks or not. If you don't like that I've included her, than I really don't care. Part two, well that's just a mystery…**_

_**I have a lot of this entire thing planned out, at least until the end of part one and then certain parts of part two, so don't think that all the stuff I put in is just random, it has a point. I still need some suggestions on Gaara, anything at all…**_

_**Plus, you should totally review this… Please**_

_**The next chapter will be up in a week, tops. Two days minimum. **_

_**The council meeting will begin…**_


	3. Meetings and the Bells

Chapter 3: Meetings and the bells

_**Well, so far I haven't had anything bad said about this fanfic and for that, I'm very happy. It took me a while to get this one done and there was a chance that I wasn't going to be able to keep my promise of 2-7 days. However, I did! So, for those of you who have been waiting, here you go!!**_

_**Disclaimer: Me don't own Naruto. Kishimoto own Naruto… **__****_

_**Chapter 3: Meetings and the bells**_

Sarutobi watched from his seat as most of the Jonin of Konoha arrived and took their own seats in the large council chamber. The council, consisting of the clan heads, the Hokage's assistants, Koharu and Homura, important civilians and the Hokage himself were already there and had been for several minutes.

Now, they were only waiting on four more people, Gai, Kakashi, Kurenai, and 'the guest of honor'.

'_Kakashi had better not be late this time…_' Sarutobi had threatened the lazy, chronically late Jonin to show up on time, or his collection of Icha Icha books would disappear and he would be banned from the bookstores that sold them.

Kakashi had quickly given his word to arrive on time.

The aging Hokage grinned when he remembered the look of horror on Kakashi's face when the Hokage had brought the books into the equation.

'_I can see why Naruto loves to prank…'_

At this moment, three of the four people arrived at the same time. The Sandaime was disappointed that the one that was missing was the blonde haired prankster.

'_Although, I'm surprised that Kakashi made it on time…'_

Suddenly, he felt the presence of the blonde Jinchuriki and turned to see him standing at the door, completely unnoticed.

'_I see he's smart to not make his presence known'_ thought Sarutobi as he nodded slightly; indicating that he understood what was expected of him.

Everyone's attention was currently on the Hokage as they all wondered the same thing.

'_Why did the Hokage call for an emergency council meeting?'_

The Hokage stood up and surveyed the crowd in front of him. Many of them were anxious, some confused, and few who seemed irritated. Sarutobi's gaze lingered on the three individuals who were those few. '_As expected of Hiashi and my assistants'_ he thought.

He cleared his throat and fiddled with the pipe in his hand which wasn't lit, indicating that he was to not be interrupted.

"My fellow villagers, I have called this meeting for something of great importance has surfaced." He kept his face in a serious manor as he watched everyone's emotions.

Nothing of 'great importance' had happened since the failed kidnapping attempt on one Hinata Hyuga.

"It has been thirteen years since the Yondaime died sealing the legendary Kyuubi into one infant to save us all." He stopped again as he watched many civilians and about half of the Jonin grit their teeth at the mention of the 'demon child'.

"Since then, the Namikaze estate has remained under the strongest Genjutsu that the Yondaime created that none have been able to pierce. The only way for the estate to reappear and be unlocked, is if someone with Namikaze blood were to sign the deed in blood."

Many were muttering to each other, not seeing where this was going. Hiashi Hyuga however, had spotted a certain blonde hiding in the back of the crowd. Hiashi at first thought it was the long dead man they were speaking of, but upon closer inspection courtesy of his Byakugan, he noticed many different things, mainly, the occasional burst of red chakra within his system quickly running through his system and disappearing.

Hiashi was of course, not stupid nor was he ignorant, he had quickly figured out why they were here and decided to speak.

"You have found the son of Minato Namikaze."

Sarutobi looked over at the Hyuga and was surprised to see that he was suppressing a smirk.

"Is it true?" Anko asked suddenly as she stood up from her seat.

"Indeed it is Anko, Naruto, come forth."

Naruto quickly made his way to the front ignoring the glares of hatred directed his way. Suddenly, as he was passing a certain pink haired Chunin, he heard a cry of hatred.

"That demon child is no son of the legendary Yondaime! That's the one that murdered him and nearly killed the whole village!"

Naruto felt his killer intent spike dangerously as he reached for his kunai pouch to only have Kakashi place a hand on his left shoulder.

"Don't Naruto" he whispered. Naruto felt another hand on his opposite shoulder and sensed Iruka. "Ignore her." Naruto nodded as he repressed his killer intent.

When Naruto had reached the front, with Iruka and Kakashi still by his side, he watched the council. Many people looked upon him with anger, some were watching the two shinobi that were obviously on Naruto's side, a few of them looked indifferent, some curious, and a handful that were beaming with happiness.

"Obviously, there is only one way to actually confirm this to be factual, so I have had Ibiki get me the scroll that contains the deed to the Namikaze estate. Ibiki, if you will…"

The Sandaime Hokage motioned for the head of torture to bring him the scroll.

Ibiki handed the scroll to the Hokage and turned to look at Naruto. He gave him a quick look over and grinned. "You look like him…"

With that said, the large Jonin returned to his seat in the middle of the chamber, right next to Anko Mitarashi who leaned over and whispered into Ibiki's ear.

Naruto turned his attention from the two sadists to the yellow scroll that was being presented before the crowd who had become silent once more.

"This scroll is sealed with a blood seal that only an heir of Minato would be able to open, and I am confident that young Naruto here shall do just that." Without another word, he presented Naruto with the scroll and Naruto stared at it for a full minute before slowly taking it from the aged kage.

Naruto sighed as he quickly bit his thumb and smeared the blood over the seal. Nothing happened for a few seconds and the Hokage was a little worried when a flash erupted from the seal.

The flash quickly died down and when Naruto opened his eyes, he was the only one unsurprised to see that Minato Namikaze was standing in the room.

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Sasuke Uchiha was currently walking towards the Uchiha compound thinking about how strong Naruto had become.

'_I still can't believe that the dobe was failing on purpose in the academy! Why would anyone do that? I wonder if we were to fight, who would win? _

Sasuke grit his teeth when he thought about it and remembered the dangerous glint in Naruto's eye when he had spoken about hiding who he truly was. That glint had told the Uchiha that Naruto was a person you would not want to mess around with.

'_I wonder, maybe Naruto could help me gain more power. I don't want to admit it, but when he approached the academy at lunch, there was something about him that made me think of Itachi and his power. Maybe Naruto _could_ help me against Itachi._

_Yet, Itachi left me alive so that I could kill him myself, that must be the only reason. He felt some sort of guilt that day. Some part of him couldn't let him get away with it. But why me?'_

Yes, being the last Uchiha was definitely not the best thing in the world. For some reason, Sasuke had finally considered using someone to help him kill his brother. Never before had he thought of something such as this, and yet, when he looked into Naruto's eyes, he knew it would be for the best if someone were to help.

'_I shall think it over later…'_

Finally, Sasuke was at the end of the road where the entrance to the grounds of the Uchiha compound were when there was a bright yellow light that appeared just across the road. Sasuke had to close his eyes to keep himself from going blind.

The light seemed to engulf him with a strange energy, it seemed, purifying.

When it finally receded, Sasuke opened his eyes slowly to adjust to the light from the sun. What he saw was slightly shocking. All his life, when he exited the Uchiha grounds, there was nothing but a stone wall that he had never given a thought.

Now however, the light had seemed to create a large iron gate that seemed calming, yet foreboding at the same time.

Sasuke felt his mouth hanging open in surprise as he slowly approached the gate. The gate seemed to be luring him, as if it would grant whoever could open it, immense powers. Sasuke reached out with his hand only to find that he could get within six inches of the bars of iron. He pushed again with more force, yet there seemed to be some sort of force pushing back.

Sasuke stopped and slowly retracted his arm and stared at the gate for a minute before focusing past it.

All that he could see was a large field of flowers.

'_Flowers? Why is there a field of flowers past this?'_

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Hiashi Hyuga had activated his Kekkei Genkai to assure himself that it was not just an imposter. Yet, there he was, Minato Namikaze, the one that had given his life thirteen years earlier to seal the Kyubi into his own son.

'_Impossible, and yet, here he is!'_

Everyone present, were currently on their knees.

The Yondaime looked around the room, inspecting everyone individually until his eyes came to rest upon the near mirror image next to him. He smiled softly at him.

"Naruto, you've grown…"

Naruto nodded, not saying a thing. Minato's gaze then shifted to the man Naruto's left.

"You've grown as well Kakashi!"

The silver haired man said nothing, to speechless to even react.

"How?" Sarutobi finally asked. "How are you alive?"

Minato looked sadly upon his predecessor.

"I'm not alive. I am merely a clone so that I may explain that Naruto _is_ my son. I knew that no one would believe him, even if he proved that he was Namikaze with a blood seal, so I created a special seal in this scroll to seal a Kage Bunshin to do its job."

Seeing the bewildered look on everyone's face, he grinned that foxy grin of his.

"It was pretty complicated, and it took me several tries to get right. I originally designed it for the uses of delivering messages that could not be used against us if it fell into the wrong hands."

Sarutobi nodded, remembering the fourth once explaining what he was going to try to do when he first became Hokage.

"So, I see that you've figured out who you really are, eh Naruto?"

"Yes, father" Naruto said as he grinned.

"I really am sorry about what I did to you, but you were the only choice…"

"It's alright dad, I understand perfectly!"

Minato nodded. "So did the village honor my wishes?" he asked the current Hokage.

"Very few did."

"Tell me, which ones?"

"Your student, Anko, Ibiki, myself of course, Iruka, the Ichiraku's, the Hyuga's haven't shown any aggression against him, those that have were executed. The Yamanaka's, Kurenai, Genma, a few civilians, and your sensei haven't when he was here."

Minato nodded. "I see, well, I'm very disappointed, but unsurprised."

He then turned back to the crowd. "To think that this village, the one I swore to protect no matter what, turned against my own son because he saved you all from the demon…

I truly am ashamed. I take it that most of you are convinced that Naruto is my son?"

Many people nodded.

"Dad, there is one thing I want to say before you leave."

Minato nodded. "Go ahead."

"The fox broke the seal…" Minato jumped back, white as a sheet. "H…h…how?"

"It forced too much chakra through the seal. Come see." Minato looked at his son, wondering what was about to happen.

He slowly approached his son and looked into his eyes to feel the effects of a Genjutsu.

Minato looked around to find himself in the Hokage's office. He was about to dispel the Genjutsu when he heard his son's voice.

"Don't! Please, there is something that I need to show you!"

At this, the scene changed to the conversation that Naruto had with the Kyuubi before he had activated the Jikanhanten. Then, the scene started to change.

Minato looked at his son once the Genjutsu had been lifted.

"I truly am proud of you son…" Naruto nodded as he watched his father turn and face the Sandaime. Minato placed his hand on the elder Hokage's shoulder and smiled.

"Now that my seal is taking effect quickly, the village should be a bit more understanding."  
Sarutobi nodded, slightly in a daze.

'_This still seems impossible!'_

"It was good seeing you again Minato, even if it was just a clone…"

Minato smiled sadly before once more turning to Naruto.

"I take it you'll know how to open the gate?" Naruto nodded to his father.

"Good, remember son, I do love you and so does your mother…" With that said, he looked at everyone in the room once more and then Kakashi.

"Take care of him Kakashi."

Kakashi could only nod.

"Well, good-bye everybody!" With that said, Minato slowly faded out of existence.

The council chamber was silent now that they had seen the fourth yet again.

"Does anybody still disagree that Naruto is not a Namikaze?"

Nobody said anything.

Sarutobi smiled. "Then, the Namikaze estate should be back and it now belongs to you… Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."

Said blonde only nodded as he gripped the scroll in his hand.

'_If only it was really him…'_ he thought to himself.

Hiashi was the first to truly recover.

"Namikaze-san."

Naruto looked at the Hyuga head and smiled warmly.

"Just call me Naruto."

Hiashi nodded. "Like father like son I see. If you would like, I can escort you to your new estate now that you live quite close to my own estate…"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah sure, I just have to stop by my apartment to grab a few things…"

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Sakura was walking along the road towards her house. She had lost track of Sasuke a few hours ago and had finally quit searching. She walked through her front door to find her mother on the couch, silently staring at a picture of one of her closest friends.

Sakura saw the picture and sighed. Apparently, Sakura's mother had a slight crush on Minato Namikaze back in the day when she was an academy student.

"Mom…"

"I saw him today" her mother said.

"What?"

"Minato. We all saw him one last time at the council meeting."

Sakura stared at her mother. She had finally gone of the deep end.

"It couldn't have been. He's been dead for thirteen years."

"I know that Sakura, but I actually saw him one last time, and the way he looked at me…" She struggled to hold back tears. "It's because of the way I treated his only son…"

"! Mom, the Yondaime never had a son."

"No Sakura, he did. The same day that he died."

"There aren't any boys with the name Namikaze."

"That was to protect the boy from his father's enemies."

Sakura suddenly recalled something Naruto had said earlier that day.

"_Because of my lineage. I didn't want anyone to recognize me for who I truly was until I could at least defend myself_."

"What was the boy's name?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Naruto."

Sakura sat down. '_I can't believe it. Naruto is the son of the fourth Hokage…'_

"Naruto was brought before the council for he had discovered his lineage. We didn't believe him at first until he opened a scroll that the Yondaime had left behind. When Naruto activated the blood seal, it summoned a clone of Minato to explain that he was a Namikaze."

"So, how did you treat Naruto to have the Yondaime look at you in a way that would upset you?"

Sakura's mother looked ashamed when she recalled what a terrible childhood Naruto had had.

"He has suffered at the hands of the villagers, not just mentally, but physically. When he was younger, he would be beaten repeatedly by mobs. A few times, I saw them beating the boy and did nothing to help, and once, I had helped with the beating."

Sakura looked at her mother in horror.

"Why?" she asked.

"Something that was completely out of his own control. He sacrificed so much for the village and all we did to repay him was to beat and shun him."

"Who else helped?" she asked her mother sadly. She was remembering how she had treated her classmate in the academy and how he had finally snapped at her today. '_I'm a horrible person._'

"There were too many people involved to actually know. There were a few such as the Yamanaka's the Hokage and your sensei that showed no hostility towards the boy."

Sakura sat in silence beside her mother who was silently crying.

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Naruto was surprised that Hiashi had no idea about the 'shithole' apartment that he had lived in for most of his life. When Hiashi was led towards the apartment, he was getting angrier and angrier at the state of the neighborhood.

"Naruto, how long have you lived here?" he asked the young blonde.

Naruto shrugged. "Since the orphanage threw me out."

"Which was when exactly?"

"I think I was six…"

Hiashi struggled to keep his anger in check. He slowly began breathing exercises to control himself. Hyuga's were not supposed to be emotional.

"It's okay Hiashi, after the assassination attempts stopped, it was okay."

Hiashi looked at Naruto for a moment before smiling. '_Like his father, always looking optimistically…'_

Naruto finally arrived at his apartment and ran in quickly, not wanting to stay much longer than necessary. He quickly found the shopping bags with his new clothes and grabbed them. He ran out of the building.

"So, let's get going now Hiashi-san."

The Hyuga head nodded. "Yes, I am most interested to see the gates yet again."

Naruto smirked. "So what exactly do you see when you see the gates?"

Hiashi looked at Naruto in surprise for a moment when Naruto answered his question.

"Jii-san told me about the Genjutsu."

Hiashi nodded. "I see, well…" Hiashi blushed at this. "I don't want to say…"

Naruto grinned. "It's not perverted is it Hiashi-san?"

Hiashi looked at Naruto for a moment. "You know that it will only display places, not things…"

Naruto shrugged. "So? I would bet that if Jiraiya of the Sannin looked, he would see a brothel…"

Hiashi chuckled. "He does have a one track mind."

"So I've heard."

The two shinobi continued out of the 'poor' part of the village and continued silently through the market district and other residential parts.

Naruto noticed that they were passing the Yamanaka flower shop and that it was in fact still open.

Inside, he could see a worn out Ino sitting at the register.

Naruto stared as he passed the large glass windows, looking at the beautiful Yamanaka as the light from the setting sun hit her perfectly.

'_Just as beautiful as in the future…'_

Ino seemed to have noticed him staring and looked up to lock eyes with him for a moment.

Ino was very surprised when she looked up to see the boy that she had tried to talk to looking at her as he passed.

The next thing she noticed was that he was holding a few bags that were full of clothes.

Ino knew this since she had plenty of experience shopping for clothes and knew what the bags looked like.

This intrigued her seeing as how there were quite a few bags, all of them packed to the gills.

'_A man that can shop!'_ she mentally shouted in joy.

Then, she noticed who he was walking with. Hiashi Hyuga was rarely ever seen with anyone that wouldn't be considered important. Yet, here he was with someone she had never seen before today.

She continued to stare until they had passed the shop and were out of her sight.

'_Wow…'_

Hiashi was suppressing a grin. He had seen Naruto and the other blonde staring at each other with _great _interest.

"So, Naruto, are you interested in any Kunoichi in this part of town?" he asked politely.

The young Namikaze however, could detect a hint of amusement in Hiashi's voice.

"Careful my friend, we are neighbors now and I have been know to pull pranks and not get caught by ANBU."

Hiashi nodded, still suppressing a smirk. '_That answers my questions._'

Naruto sighed. _'He wasn't this forward or teasing when we met in my time.'_

They continued walking in silence which was fine with the two of them seeing as how it was a comfortable silence.

Just as they were approaching the Namikaze estate, Hiashi broke the silence.

"So how strong are you really Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm going to tell you what I told Sasuke Uchiha, I haven't been pushed to my limit because the situation has never called for it. But, if I were to gauge my own strength, at least as strong as a rookie Jonin."

Hiashi wasn't very surprised. '_Considering who his father was. Dead last in the academy, number one as a Genin._'

Hiashi remembered how different his blonde haired friend's power seemed to be when they had fought in the Chunin exams for the first time.

"You're father was the same. Hiding your true potential until you were out of the academy."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, but he never hid his true self from anybody, including the Hyuga's.

Hiashi frowned at this.

"I'm not trying to be offensive, it's just that I actually did get away with it, but if you had activated your bloodline on me, you would have seen me for who I truly was."

Hiashi nodded. "Nice save."

"It was the truth."

Hiashi grunted. They had finally reached the gate and Naruto looked at what was beyond it.

Naruto grinned. He always grinned whenever he was here.

"What is it that you see?" Hiashi asked.

"Depends on my mood."

Hiashi nodded.

"I would invite you in, but I want to look around first before I have anyone come over."

"I understand, however, I will expect an invitation from you as soon as possible."  
Naruto grinned. "I understand why as well. I'm not going to care if you give me some sort of house warming gift or not. I'll back you up on anything if I approve of it. I know of the council workings and that you are very influential, however, so am I now that I have my father's name."

Hiashi nodded. He had been expecting the blonde to know the workings of the council since he had discovered who the blonde was.

"I shall take my leave then…"

Naruto nodded, not seeing any reason to say anything.

As Hiashi left, Naruto lifted his arm to push against the iron gates so that he could finally get home.

He felt the sensation that the barrier gave whenever he touched it. He pushed through it, feeling a tingling sensation in his arm and reached the cold bars, pushing them open.

The gates slowly and silently opened themselves after the slight and gentle touch of Naruto's hand.

Naruto walked past them and heard them close behind them.

Naruto looked around, seeing the large field of grass around him. To his right, was a small forest. In it, he could sense a variety of different creatures. He smiled as he saw a small fox emerge from a bush and look at him curiously. Naruto stared back, unblinking. He knew that this fox would not harm him, the fox however, was unsure of the new arrival.

Finally, the fox yawned and turned away, trotting into the forest.

Naruto chuckled. He slightly wondered if the Kyuubi had ever acted like that when it was younger. However, he doubted it.

Naruto looked to his left to see the large field. In the middle of the field was a training spot slightly resembling training ground 7, without the river.

Naruto looked forward and followed the dirt road towards a house not far in the distance.

Naruto stared longingly at the building. It was a large three story house that seemed to radiate an aura of warmth. Naruto smiled at all the things he would enjoy in the house.

He remembered that there was an Onsen in the back and was looking forward to feeling its effects.

'_First things first…'_ he thought as he entered the house, intent on reaching the library to find a certain scroll.

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Sakura yawned as she entered training grounds 7 at 7:30. She noticed that she was the first one there as she sat against one of the three wooden posts.

She let her mind wander as she stared at her surroundings. She had to admit, it was quite beautiful for a place to train.

'_I wonder if Ino-pig is doing the same thing.'_

She sighed as she recalled her early childhood and her friendship with the Yamanaka.

Then, she remembered how Ino had been looking at her blonde teammate the day before.

'_The look on her face will be priceless when I tell her that she was ogling Naruto!'_

Her memories of what had transpired the night before resurfaced.

'_Naruto... Never would have thought he'd been through all that the way he acts…'_

She continued recalling how guilty her mother had seemed and how much she had cried.

Then, Sasuke appeared. He was slowly making his way over to the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura blushed when Sasuke stopped in front of her and stared at her for a moment.

"Did you have breakfast?" he asked.

Sakura's brain seemed to have come to a sudden halt. Then, one thought ran through her head.

'_Sasuke-kun talked to me…'_

Sasuke stared at the girl for a few seconds before repeating the question which snapped the fan girl to reality.

"Oh… um, no…" she said meekly as she recalled that the Uchiha had apparently agreed with Naruto's suggestion.

"Hm" was the reply she received as the Uchiha walked over to a tree and leaned against it.

Sakura stared longingly at the brooding boy, thinking about all the 'possibilities' that came with him talking to her.

Sasuke was frowning at the Kunoichi that was staring at him intently.

'_Naruto pointed it out to us and yet she ignored it. I thought that she was supposed to be the smartest girl in our graduating class. Maybe Naruto isn't the dobe, _she_ is.'_

Sasuke then remembered what he had seen Naruto do the night before.

'_How? How did he get through that barrier and yet I couldn't? Is he stronger than me?'_

Sasuke reminded himself of the look in Naruto's eyes, one that told of power and knowledge. For that reason, Sasuke was slowly beginning to acknowledge the blonde, unconsciously at least.

Sasuke listened to the leaves of the trees around them rustle from the soft breeze that was blowing that day.

'_Seems peaceful…'_ thought Sasuke.

It had seemed like a few hours had passed and there was still no sign of Kakashi or Naruto.

Sakura had attempted to move closer to the Uchiha, but he was sitting in a tree now as Sakura sat against the trunk of a tree a few yards from Sasuke.

"Why do you think Naruto's late? Same with Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke didn't look in the Kunoichi's direction as he grunted.

Sakura sighed. '_Why won't he give me a straight answer?'_

"Because you're weak" came her answer.

She looked up in surprise to see a fatigued Naruto.

"What?"

Naruto looked in Sasuke's direction and then back to her.

"He wants someone strong to help him; he doesn't like to be held back. I thought you already knew this about your precious Sasuke-_kun_."

Sasuke had jumped out of the tree and walked up to Naruto.

"You're pretty observant, dobe."

Naruto shrugged, not caring about the kunoichi that had flames dancing in her eyes.

"I don't really care, but it's kinda obvious."

Sakura had her fist clenched and was thing about punching at Naruto head when a pop was heard and Kakashi appeared, holding Naruto's shoulder with his 'eye smile'.

"Sakura, I would hold back if I were you" he said as he glanced at his young charge.

Sakura, who had her fist raised, looked at Naruto and then Kakashi questioningly.

"Naruto had obviously been training recently and might accidentally hurt you as he is still in what many would call 'battle mode'" explained the Cyclops.

Naruto just chuckled. "Were you spying on me?" Kakashi shook his head.

"You look fatigued, and I have a great sense of smell and it has been obvious that you have been training with someone who trains for 'youthfulness'."

Naruto shuddered at this word. "Please refrain from _ever_ saying that word around me."

Kakashi had actually had to suppress a shudder when he had realized what he had said.

'_I hope I don't wake up with the same hair and wardrobe…' _thought the copy nin, imagining what he would look like with those two factors.

Mentally shaking himself, he took his hand off of Naruto and produced two bells.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's get started, shall we?"

The three Genin were now at attention.

'_Two of them seem to have ignored my warning about breakfast'_ thought Kakashi as he noticed their posture. He then remembered what Naruto had suggested when Kakashi had 'left'.

He wondered if this team would pass. '_I hope so…'_

"All the three of you have to do is get one of these bells, and you'll get lunch."

Sakura had realized that what Naruto had suggested was good advice.

"But, there are only two bells and three of us!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi 'eye smiled' again.

"Very perceptive, yes, there are only two bells and whoever doesn't get a bell will be tied to that post over there and have their lunch eaten by me. Also, the loser shall be sent back to the academy."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened when they heard this, Naruto however looked bored.

"If you intend on getting a bell, you will have to come at me with the intent to kill."

The three Genin nodded, one of them quickly remembering the plan that he had come up with.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Two people quickly took off into the forest surrounding them while two stayed in the clearing, facing each other.

'_The other two are hidden quite well, Naruto however…'_ Naruto just stood there, glancing at the spots that his teammates were hiding.

'_Hm? He knows where the other two are already? Interesting…'_ At this, Kakashi reached into his pouch to grab his favorite novel to find that it was missing.

'_I know that I brought it with me, did it fall out?'_

Naruto smirked when he saw his sensei looking for the missing orange book that was now behind his back.

Naruto had gotten the idea from Maito Gai that morning while training.

_**Flashback**_

_Naruto had come back to the 'field of eyebrows' to participate in training with the two Taijutsu specialists. It was currently seven and Naruto was supposed to take his bell test in a few hours. He knew that Kakashi would be late, he always was._

_When he was half way through sparing with the older of the two specialists, he had mentioned his test and Gai had sprung into action._

"_YOSH, MY ETERNAL RIVAL MAY BE COOL AND HIP, THAT BOOK OF HIS HOWEVER, RESTRICTS HIS FLAMES OF YOUTH FROM BLAZING AS MUCH AS MINE!! I AM SURE THAT IF THAT BOOK WERE USED AS A BARGAINING CHIP THAT HE WOULD SURELY CAVE!! I HOWEVER, DO NOT HAVE SUCH A WEAKNESS SUCH AS THAT!!"_

_**Flashback ends.**_

Naruto wondered if Gai had purposely mentioned this so that Naruto would try this method out.

'_Only one way to find out…'_

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! Looking for this?" Naruto held the book out and grinned at the look of shock that Kakashi had.

"How did you do that?" he asked. He couldn't remember when the young shinobi had pulled a fast one on him.

When you appeared and had your hand on my shoulder, it gave me the perfect opportunity to take it, so I did. Now give me a bell or I'll burn it!"

'_I've underestimated him and now my precious book is in danger!!'_ Kakashi lunged at Naruto at a quick speed and grabbed his book from Naruto who hadn't reacted quickly enough.

"Smart Naruto. I didn't realize that you knew of that weak point. However, you've threatened one of my most precious objects and for that, I will make sure that you lose!"

Kakashi was only throwing empty threats but Naruto didn't need to know.

Sasuke smirked. '_Not bad Naruto, I guess you did your research on this guy._'

He watched as the two shinobi in the clearing stared each other down when Kakashi broke the silence.

"I guess I'll teach you a lesson during this little exercise. Lesson 1, Taijutsu."

Naruto charged Kakashi when he had finished talking.

'_Damn it Naruto, he's a Jonin!'_ thought Sasuke.

As Naruto charged he thought one thing. '_I need to tone it down for this; I don't need Kakashi getting serious.'_

Naruto aimed a kick for Kakashi's head who quickly ducked underneath the leg.

Naruto recovered as he pulled out a kunai and launched it at his sensei.

Kakashi was thinking about how easy catching the kunai was going to be when Naruto flipped through some familiar seals. '_He knows this?'_

"_**Kunai Kage Bunshin No Jutsu"**_

The one kunai became fifty and Kakashi was forced to use a Kawarimi.

When the log had hit the ground, Naruto was on the defensive. Kakashi was using a Taijutsu style that seemed to be similar to the Jyuken and the Goken styles.

Kakashi threw a punch through Naruto's guard forcing the blonde to drop to the ground to be met with Kakashi's sandal.

Naruto felt the foot connect with his face and was thrown into the air. He quickly controlled his flailing body and landed smoothly only to shoot forward even faster.

'_Here I thought that I wouldn't have to use Goken.'_

Naruto was back on the offensive, throwing punch after punch at the copy Nin only to have them all blocked or parried.

Kakashi had grabbed hold of Naruto's arm and pivoted to the right, using the momentum to throw the blonde at the river. Naruto crashed through the clear surface of the river and as he was sinking towards the murky bottom, he made a familiar cross sign.

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Sasuke was having a hard time keeping up with the two as they fought and was slightly disappointed when Naruto landed in the river.

'_Still, how does he move so quickly?'_

His thoughts were interrupted when someone covered Sasuke's mouth.

"Don't move" came Naruto's voice.

Sakura had had a similar reaction to Sasuke's when watching the fight. '_I thought he was the dead last and here he is showing me and Sasuke-kun up!'_

She then felt a presence behind her and drew a kunai from her pouch to find that there weren't any there.

"Looking for these?"

Sakura whirled around to see a frowning Naruto holding her five kunai that she had on her.

"How did…" she was interrupted when Sasuke appeared.

"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled.

Naruto threw her a look that clearly said shut the hell up. Sakura looked down at the ground, blushing from her loud voice. Kakashi had probably heard her.

"Its fine for now seeing as how Kakashi is occupied" said Naruto.

"Occupied?" she asked.

Sasuke pointed to the clearing and she followed his line of sight. There in the field, were five Narutos fighting one Kakashi.

"How are you here and there?" she asked.

"Kage bunshin, now listen up Sakura, I have a plan to get those bells…"

Kakashi wasn't surprised to find that Naruto knew the Kage Bunshin technique. He was surprised that they were all dodging his blows. Their teamwork seemed flawless as they were all the same person, but it did give Kakashi a peak at what could be accomplished if Naruto had gotten wind of the true purpose to the exercise.

'_Only half an hour left and no teamwork at all…'_

Kakashi saw an opening and took it, as he drew a kunai and threw it into the middle of the clones. On the kunai, was an explosive tag.

"Payback Naruto…'

The tag exploded and destroyed four of the Narutos, leaving one battered Naruto staring at an empty clearing.

"You know" a voice said behind him. "You should never expose your back to an enemy ninja." There, behind Naruto, was Kakashi holding the oh so familiar sign of the tiger.

"One thousand years of death!" yelled Kakashi as he preformed the jutsu that Naruto had been trying to avoid ever since the first time.

Naruto however, smirked and said one thing.

"Boom." The Naruto exploded and Kakashi, who had not been expecting this, had barely braced himself with enough chakra to escape relatively unscathed. Kakashi was flung through the air with his clothes slightly singed.

'_Minato-sensei, your son is fantastic!'_

As he landed, he noticed something wrong. He was surrounded by three Genin who all had their kunai drawn.

'_Well well, what do we have here?' _thought Kakashi.

"You guys ready?" Naruto asked. He received two nods of acknowledgement.

"All right, go!" Sakura flipped through signs as she threw her kunai and watched as it tripled as it sailed through the air.

At the same time, Sasuke had flipped through his own hand seals and inhaled, focusing his chakra in his lungs.

"_**Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu."**_ The large fireball flew towards its target. Naruto watched as Kakashi preformed a Kawarimi and reappeared just behind Naruto.

Suddenly, Kakashi was on the defensive as Sasuke had jumped out of hiding and the 'Sasuke' that had just used a jutsu disappeared in puff of smoke.

Sakura flung six shuriken at the two and Sasuke smirked as he held his ground as a shuriken pierced his back.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he formed a ram seal and suppressed his chakra, quickly breaking the Genjutsu he was under courtesy of a certain cherry blossom.

The first thing he noticed when the Genjutsu was gone, was that there were four Kage Bunshins holding on to him.

"You move, you die" one of them said.

The next thing he noticed were the two teammates holding bells, one blushing, one brooding.

"Where's the real Naruto?" he asked. His question was answered by one sentence.

"One Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi was now flying through the air, holding his rear end and thinking one thing. '_That kid is really talented, and really cruel…'_

_**There is chapter 3, I felt a little disappointed in myself for certain reasons, but it couldn't be helped. I had to have Naruto get back at Kakashi for that because he did say in the manga that he was going to make Kakashi payback for what he did…**_

_**Again, those of you who want more Kushina Uzumaki are going to have to wait it out for a while, however, I have come up with a few more parts for her to be in than what I planned. If you want her soon, than wait a few chapters, she'll have some dialogue with a certain character that seems a little insignificant and still is in this fic. Just to answer one comment or question, can't remember, Kushina will not be contacting Naruto for a long time, she's a person that'll work within the shadows, always lurking about. Hate me? I don't care. There's a reason for it that will be slightly explained in the next chapter. **_

_**One of my friends asked me a question, will Konohamaru be in this fic and how much.**_

_**Yes he will be, I like his interactions with Naruto so I'll have him appear next chapter.**_

_**Ino will be absent for a while, I don't want her to find out who Naruto is for a few more chapters, plus, they'll all be to busy!**_

_**Thanks for reading. P.S. See that thing in the left hand corner, I suggest that you select review story and review my story! It's always nice to hear that my work is appreciated. The next chapter may be out a little later, probably the 18**__**th**__** or 19**__**th**__**, if I'm lucky. 21**__**st**__** at latest… My mom kinda got pissy with me…**_


	4. The Bane of All Shinobi

Chapter 4: The Bane of All Shinobi

_**Alright now. Sorry I brought this out later than expected. 7 days later… My computer kinda deleted this chapter and I had to rewrite it which was a major pain. Thanks to all of you reading this. Still haven't gotten any bad reviews and I am on cloud nine. **_

_**Now then, enjoy this chapter and review it!! **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**_

_**Chapter 4: The Bane of All Shinobi**_

Kakashi walked out of the river to find a grinning Naruto just a few feet from him.

"That's what you get for trying that technique on me Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi sighed. '_I guess he's right, it is a bit of an unethical jutsu to use against them…'_

Naruto took a step forward and clenched his teeth. Kakashi noticed this and saw that the young blonde seemed to be straining himself just by standing up.

'_Interesting…_'

Kakashi glanced over at the two others to see them holding their bells, wondering what was going to happen next.

"Well Naruto, it looks like you don't have a bell" Kakashi said.

'_Might as well see if the other two will help him without him suggesting it.'_

"So? We passed this test with flying colors. Teamwork, Sasuke and I figured it out and Sakura figured it out when we found her. We passed, no matter what kind of psychological torture mumbo jumbo. Get to the speech so we can go. Some of us are busy."

Kakashi sweat dropped. '_Damn, oh well, gives me more time to read…'_

"As Naruto has said, the point of this exercise was to see if you could work together as a team. Just to speed this up, I'll tell you something that a friend of mine once told me, not long before he died, that those who disobey orders are trash, those who abandon their comrades are even lower than trash."

Kakashi let it hang in the air for a moment before he spoke.

"Team 7; report here tomorrow at nine to receive your first mission!" With that said, Kakashi disappeared, using a Shushin jutsu, leaving the three Genin.

Naruto turned to Sakura, "So, do you want to train with me?" he asked.

Sakura glared at him, "hell no you Baka!"

Naruto just shrugged and turned to the Uchiha.

"What about you?" he asked.

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a moment. '_Two days ago, I would have said no without a thought, but he is truly strong.'_

"Sure, where to Naruto?" Sasuke asked the blonde.

"On second thought…" Sakura began, but Naruto interrupted her.

"I only extended the invitation to you first for I knew you would decline. I only intend to train with Sasuke until you decide to take being a ninja seriously. If you were to fight Hinata, whom many consider the weakest of our class, you would lose. To train with me, you must be a capable Kunoichi."

"Naruto you baka, I'm a very capable Kunoichi!"

Naruto looked at her, scrutinizing her. "What jutsu do you know outside of the academy jutsu?" he asked.

Sakura thought for a moment and came up with an answer that made her realize just how useless she was.

"Exactly, if you want to not be a burden, then I suggest that you start to train instead of just caring about what Sasuke might think." With that said, Naruto whirled around and walked away, Sasuke following him.

Sakura sat in the field, tears stinging her eyes. '_I really am weak…'_

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Sasuke was impressed that Naruto had knocked the truth into Sakura's head. Nobody had been able to get through to the girl until now.

They were back in the city and were walking a path towards the market district.

"First, we'll eat, then we need to talk" the blonde said.

Sasuke nodded, he was finally going to find out just how strong Naruto was.

Naruto smiled when he saw his favorite ramen stand come into view.

Sasuke however, didn't share his teammates love for the food.

"No." Sasuke said as he stopped. Naruto heard him, but kept on walking.

"Fine by me, it just means that I can focus on my own training instead of having to help you." With that said, he left Sasuke, knowing what the Uchiha would do.

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Sakura had finally gotten a hold of her self and was now stalking the Uchiha.

'_Ramen? Is that all Naruto eats?'_ she asked herself as she remembered what Naruto had always eaten in the academy.

She watched the two from a distance as they both ordered some ramen.

'_Can't hear what their saying, I'm going in.'_

'_**We totally rock! Shannaro!'**_

Sakura was now just within earshot of the small ramen stand.

"So, why are we here Naruto? I thought that we were going to be training?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto was happily slurping up the heavenly noodles as if he didn't hear Sasuke at all.

"Dobe!" he called out.

Naruto set his chopsticks down and looked at the Uchiha.

"Here's the deal Sasuke. I'll train with you but you're going to have to change."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "How so?" he asked.

"Your attitude stinks. I'm getting really tired of it and there is no way in hell that you're going to be making any progress as a shinobi with it."

Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"You're so stuck up, that I nearly had to beat the prospect of teamwork into your head today just to get a bell. If that were a life or death situation, we might have died because of that attitude."

Sasuke had had enough, and was getting up when Naruto continued.

"Itachi knew what had to be done and whenever I saw him working, he never had an attitude."

Sasuke whirled around to face Naruto to find that he was gone.

He then felt the cold feeling of metal on his throat.

"It's true that emotions can get you killed on the field, however, being an emotionless bastard will get you killed no matter what."

'_How did he get behind me?'_ Sasuke thought.

"The only reason you and Sakura even got the two bells was because of me. If you hadn't been so antisocial and Sakura had actually trained instead of fawning over you, then you two would have not had to depend on my skills. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but it is the truth."

Sasuke stood silently as he felt the metal touch disappear.

"Now you have a choice, will you drop the attitude and open up, or will you continue to weaken yourself? If you choose the correct answer, meet me at the entrance to _my_ estate." Naruto then disappeared just as he did yesterday.

Sakura had felt the slight killer intent that Naruto had used to get his point across with Sasuke and knew that a bit of it had been directed towards her.

'_He knew I was here!'_ She fell to the ground in fear. '_He knows what he's talking about.'_

'_**How do you know?**__'_ her inner self asked.

'_I could feel the truth in his voice, the conviction. He's only trying to help us…'_

'…' her inner self said nothing, she understood perfectly.

'_I need to start training, now.'_ With that said, she got up off the ground, and headed back to the training grounds. She needed to improve so that she didn't need to depend on the others.

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The Hokage sat in his office with Kurenai and Asuma sitting across from him.

"He's always late. Maybe he's still doing his test?" Kurenai asked.

The Hokage shook his head. "No, he's finished already, I'm sure of it."

Finally, the door opened to reveal the cyclopean subject of their conversation.

"It's about time Kakashi" Asuma said.

Kakashi only nodded in response.

"Our teams passed, thank you for asking" Kurenai said, slightly annoyed at being ignored by the copy Nin.

"So, report" the aged Sandaime Hokage ordered.

"Team 7…" he prolonged the answer as he watched the three in front of him lean forward in anticipation.

"…passes."

The Hokage smirked. '_It seems Naruto is stronger than he lead us all to believe.'_

"So, what happened?" asked Kurenai, eager to hear of the young Namikaze's skills.

"Well, Naruto was the first to react. Before I even told them to begin, he stole my book while my guard was down."

The other three grinned. '_Only Konoha's number one prankster'_ they all thought.

"When I told them to start, Haruno and Uchiha quickly hid while Naruto stayed in the open and used the book as a hostage."  
Kurenai and Asuma stifled a laugh which resulted in what sounded like a snort. The Hokage didn't react on the surface and Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"I quickly regained the book and faced him in a quick Taijutsu match which he followed up with a kunai kage bunshin technique."

The two other Jonin's jaws fell to the floor at this.

"We continued in a Taijutsu match when he seemed to up the ante. He began to use the Goken style."

Jaws dropped further and a certain Kage's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I managed to throw him into the river to only be attacked by at least twenty kage bunshin. At this time, Naruto slipped past me and met with his teammates. He explained the concept of the test and got them to join him."

"After getting rid of most of the bunshin except for one that I thought was real, I used the one thousand years of death technique on him only to have the bunshin explode."

This time, the Hokage's jaw slackened. '_He knows the Bunshin Daibakufu?'_

I was quickly placed under a Genjutsu either by Naruto or Sakura which they used to get the bells from me. By then, I realized it was a Genjutsu only to find that Sasuke and Sakura had the bells."

The others seemed very surprised.

"Impressive" Kurenai breathed.

"Indeed" Kakashi replied.

"So, Kakashi Hatake, one question. Where do you think Naruto stands?" The Sandaime asked.

Kakashi sighed. "To be honest, I think he was holding back, a lot. He seemed to be straining himself _by_ holding back. If he were to go all out, I would bet he would be my equal."

The Hokage nodded. '_After hearing of what happened at the test and seeing him use the Rasengan, I would expect that much. Naruto Namikaze, you truly live up to your surname.'_

"So, is that all?"

"Actually, I wanted your opinion on something" Kakashi said. As he remembered one more detail about his new charge.

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_**One Week Later**_

Sakura watched as her two teammates lunged at each other. Sasuke started with a jab followed by a leg sweep. Naruto anticipated this and quickly dodged the jab and flipped backwards, avoiding the sweep. The blonde jumped forward with his leg ready to make contact with Sasuke's head. Sasuke blocked the kick with his forearm and made for a jab at Naruto's torso. Naruto grabbed the fist an inch away and threw it to the side, also unbalancing his opponent. Seeing an opening, Naruto quickly threw his fist towards Sasuke's unprotected stomach.

Sasuke felt the punch connect as the wind was knocked out of him. He knew the blonde was holding back, but it still didn't mean that it was soft. He flew backwards, skidding along the ground. Sasuke pulled a kunai out of its holster and used it to stop his momentum. Just as he felt himself slowing down, he felt the presence of his teammate behind him. He ducked down just in time to feel Naruto's fist fly through his hair.

Sasuke pivoted to his left, kunai in hand only to have it parried with Naruto's own kunai.

Sasuke smirked as he saw that Naruto had disappeared.

'_I guess we're stepping it up a notch'_ thought Sasuke. He felt around for any chakra signatures. He spun around to his left, running through hand seals.

**"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu"** announced the young Uchiha as he let loose a large jet of fire.

It quickly formed into a large fireball as it rocketed at the Namikaze who was going through his own hand seals.

**"Suiton Suijinheki!"** Naruto spewed out a large amount of water that quickly formed a wall around him, allowing the fire to hit it and explode into steam.

Just as Naruto and Sasuke were about to start round two when Kakashi appeared in between the two.

'_That was one of the Nidaime's jutsu…'_ Kakashi thought.

"Well as impressive as this little spar is, we have another mission."

"You mean chore?" Naruto asked sounding slightly irritated.

Kakashi smiled at the blonde. "I guess you _could _call them chores, but it sounds more professional when you call it a mission."

Naruto only replied with a snort. He looked over and looked at his third teammate.

'_I'm glad she's changing already'_ he thought.

Sakura had definitely started to change. She still wore her usual attire, but her pouch and kunai holster seemed to be full. Her hair had been cut, giving her the haircut that Naruto had gotten used to. She also seemed slightly stronger in Naruto's opinion.

"So Kakashi," Sasuke started. "Why were you late this time?" Kakashi looked at his student in surprise. '_They actually want to know?'_

"Well, I got lost on the road of life after I helped an old lady with her groceries."

Sasuke sweat dropped as he groaned. Naruto was next to the usually brooding Uchiha, grinning like an idiot.

"Here dobe, thirty ryou" groaned Sasuke as he handed over the money that he owed his teammate.

'W_as I really just the source of a bet?' _Kakashi asked himself.

"I was _sure _it would be about a cat today…" Sasuke mumbled to himself.

"So anyways, today we'll be walking a few dogs for the Inuzuka's veterinary clinic."

Naruto grinned at this. '_Cool… Wonder if Sasuke thinks Hana is hot as well?'_

They quickly made their way from their training grounds to the Inuzuka compound where the veterinary clinic was located.

Naruto entered first to see a pretty brunette with the same facial tattoos as Kiba. She seemed quite nice and had an exotic look about her.

"Hey there Hana-chan!" Naruto said, announcing his presence.

Said Kunoichi looked up to see the handsome blonde before her.

"Hi there Naruto-kun!" The two had met a few days ago as she was trying to track down a missing Akamaru. It was Naruto who had accidentally come across the puppy who seemed quite scared of the Jinchuriki. Eventually, Naruto had managed to calm the puppy down after convincing it that he was in fact Naruto. He asked the dog, not to reveal to Kiba about him which Akamaru agreed to after a belly rub.

Hana had come across the belly rub and had warmed up to the blonde quite quickly. She of course knew of his current status and what was happening to the Kyuubi.

She had never resented Naruto for his burden.

"So, which dog's need to be walked?" he asked the Inuzuka.

Sasuke and Sakura had just entered the door to find the two talking happily and found it quite strange.

"Well, if you and your team want to follow me."

An hour later, Naruto had quickly tamed the dog he had been assigned which was an overly large pit bull. He seemed quite ferocious at first, but Naruto had out growled the dog. The two were now quietly walking along with Sasuke and a German shepherd.

Sakura and even Kakashi were also assigned dogs. Kakashi had oddly enough, received a pug to walk while Sakura had gained a small border collie.

The dogs seemed quite drawn to Kakashi and only said copy Nin and Naruto knew why.

After another hour of walking the dogs, Kakashi announced that the 'mission' was a success and that they were going back.

Hana quickly thanked team 7 for their help and walked them out of the store.

"Well, that went well…" Kakashi said as he read Icha Icha Paradise.

"So Sasuke, what did you think of Hana?"

"Hn…"

"She was kinda curvy, don't you think?"

This caused Sasuke to blush, Kakashi to lower his book, and Sakura to seethe with anger.

'_Sasuke thinks that whore is hot!?'_

'_**Shannaro, we should kick that hussy's ass!!'**_

"Too bad she's too old for you Sasuke, plus, I don't think she really liked you…"

"Hn…"

"Hn indeed Sasuke…" Naruto mocked.

They made it to the Hokage tower to see the Sandaime sitting at his usual desk with Iruka and a few others, handing out missions to teams.

"I see that you have completed your mission eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded, not even looking up from his orange book.

"Well, here is the money for completing the mission."

"Thank you Hokage-sama" said Kakashi as he closed his book. "We're done for the day so I guess we'll be back tomorrow to receive a few more cho, I mean missions…" Kakashi quickly used his Shushin jutsu to escape what could have been an awkward moment.

The other three Genin weren't so lucky.

'_Damn it Kakashi!'_ Naruto screamed in his head.

The other two were having similar thoughts.

"Well, I don't want to seem like a copy cat but…" Naruto quickly used a seal free Shushin just like Kakashi, leaving an irritated Uchiha and a seething Haruno.

The Hokage looked at the two Genin that were left. "Did your sensei just call D ranked missions chores?"

"…"

"..."

Naruto felt proud as he walked through the streets, heading towards Ichiraku's for some quality ramen. '_Sucks to be them…'_

As he rounded a corner, he saw team 10 and 8 arguing. Or at least a member of both teams while the rest of them hung back.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME DOG BREATH?!"

"I SAID YOU LOOK LIKE A PORTLY PIG!!"

"BE QUIET OR I WILL NEUTER YOU!!"

"Troublesome…"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" The two yelled.

Munch munch…

Naruto sweat dropped.

'_Good lord, these two must be the loudest people in the land of fire'_ thought Naruto.

Naruto watched on in slight amusement, as the two continued to yell at each other. Then, things got a little out of control.

Ino had made a jab at Kiba's mother which provoked a physical attack. The Inuzuka quickly drew a kunai and was just about to throw it when he was suddenly on the ground.

"You know, it's kinda rude to attack an unarmed woman" Naruto said from his spot, on top of Kiba.

Ino's mouth dropped open when she saw the 'hot' blonde from a week ago, and he just saved her.

Before she could say anything, Shino approached Naruto.

"Namikaze-san, he was verbally provoked by Yamanaka-san."

"I understand that Shino, but to physically assault a fellow Konoha shinobi could be disastrous."

Shino nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to abuse Kiba in anyway.

"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!!" Kiba yelled from beneath Naruto.

"Not until you cool down. Akamaru, could you talk some sense into him?"

The dog had been sitting beside Hinata as all of this was happening and walked over to the fuming and cursing Kiba.

After a few barks, Kiba had stopped his thrashing and stared at the blonde that was sitting on his back.

"He's really that strong?" he asked his partner.

Bark bark.

Ino was standing there, slack jawed. '_Namikaze? As in Minato Namikaze? The Yondaime??'_

"Are you going to behave?" Naruto asked Kiba.

"Y…Yeah, sure…"

Naruto got off of Kiba and helped him to his feet.

"You know, you shouldn't get so riled up at a few insults."

Kiba only nodded. '_I shouldn't mess with this guy if what Akamaru says is true…'_

"Good and you" said Naruto as he turned to Ino. "I don't know who started this and I don't care, the two of you should really tone it down. Shinobi need to be silent, not loud and obnoxious."

Ino only nodded as she stared at the blonde. '_Maybe he is the Yondaime's son, but the fourth never got married or had any kids.'_

"So, now that all of that has been resolved, I must be going."

With that said, Naruto disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

"Who was that?" Choji asked as he recalled seeing him back at the academy for team selections.

"He is the Yondaime's son…" Shino answered as he turned around heading in the direction of a certain ramen stand.

"How do you know?" Ino yelled out.

"Information is vital to the success of a mission, therefore, I must know as much as I can so that I am never caught unaware and possibly killed…"

Kiba and Hinata walked after the Aburame.

"W…Where are w… we going Shino-kun?" asked Hinata.

"Ichiraku's, I must test him…"

Shikamaru yawned as he turned around to set off towards Choji's for some dinner.

"C'mon Choji, I don't want to miss your mother's cooking…"

Munch munch munch…

"Troublesome blondes…" Shikamaru sighed as he saw that Ino was staring at the spot where Naruto had last been.

'_I can't wait to see her face when she finds out that it's actually Naruto. It might be troublesome though…'_

Munch…

Naruto sat slurping his noodles, wondering what had become of his teammates when he heard a buzzing sound.

"Shino, get this female Kikai off of me or I will crush it."

"I see… You truly are a powerful shinobi, Naruto Namikaze."

Kiba and Hinata's eyes widened.

"N…N…Naruto?!" They both asked.

"Hey you two… I'm sure that you two have heard the rumors of a certain Genin fooling all of the Hyuga's Byakugan with a henge?"

The two of them nodded.

"Take a guess of who that Genin is…"

"Naruto, I have come here to challenge you to a spar…" Shino interrupted.

Naruto quickly ate the remaining noodles in his bowl and turned to Shino.

"Where and when?"

"You may pick the location, now…"

Naruto nodded. "Might as well do it at my team's training grounds…"

With that said Naruto laid some money on the counter and got up.

"Follow me, if you can keep up." Naruto then seemed to disappear.

Shino and Hinata also did the same, leaving a gaping Kiba.

"Akamaru, can you track them down?" he asked.

Bark!

"Good, let's go now."

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Hinata was surprised at how fast her teammate was traveling. She was even more surprised at her own. For some reason, she felt the need to come see the two fight each other and was driven by that desire.

'_Naruto-kun, how different are you truly from what we have all seen?'_

Naruto was easily jumping from building to building which quickly turned into trees.

Naruto grinned when he felt two chakra signatures easily keeping up with him.

'_They're stronger than I gave them credit for.'_

He felt two more chakra signatures not far behind.

'_Kiba needs to train more…'_

He finally reached the clearing of training ground 7.

He jumped into the clearing and felt the other two jump down.

"We'll wait for the other two…" said Naruto.

Shino nodded and Hinata tried to fight down a blush, a fight she was losing.

Finally, after ten minutes, Kiba and Akamaru burst through the brush.

"Now then, state the rules Shino."

"Anything goes, no killing."

"Fair enough, Hinata, will you be the referee?"

Hinata nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Shall we begin?" Shino asked.

"No, I want one more thing…"

"…Name it…"

"Kiba and you shall fight me as a team…"

"Does that mean that lady Hinata will be on your team?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, then the teams will be unfair. Hinata's fighting style would crush the two of you if it were combined with my knowledge and abilities."

Hinata nearly fainted at the compliment.

Shino nodded once again. "Fine…"

"Yahoo, you here that Akamaru!"

Akamaru looked at the Namikaze, seeing his posture, feeling his chakra.

Akamaru already could tell what the outcome would be.

"R…Ready… S…s…set…go."

Shino was the first to react. He threw a few shuriken at the blonde. Naruto ducked underneath the projectiles. Kiba had decided to use his clan's technique.

**"Gatsuuga!"** Kiba spun in the air, creating what looked like a small tornado heading towards Naruto.

Naruto flashed through a few seals. Suddenly, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata were bathed in darkness.

**"Kokuangyo no Jutsu"** Naruto grinned as he announced the Genjutsu. Kiba zoomed right past Naruto and stopped his jutsu.

Naruto heard a buzzing sound again and cursed his stupidity.

Naruto quickly flared his chakra, killing the female Kikai bug that was still on him.

"Impressive Naruto…" came Shino's voice.

"Thanks…"

**"Juujuin Bunshin!" **Kiba's voice rang out.

'_Damn!'_ thought Naruto.

He ran through a few hand seals as he heard the unannounced Gatsuuga that was coming towards him.

**"Kanashibari no Jutsu!" **Naruto smirked when he heard the sound of the Gatsuuga halt and two bodies crash to the ground.

"One on one now Shino…"

"I see…"

Naruto flipped through a few more hand seals.

"**Kaze no Yaiba!"** Naruto felt the air shift as he pushed the blade of wind towards Shino with a blast of chakra. Naruto lifted the Genjutsu only to see Shino burst into thousands of Kikai bugs.

"A Kikai Bunshin!" Naruto felt Shino hold a kunai to his neck.

"Yield…" he commanded.

Naruto smiled as he heard this. "No." With that said, Naruto reverted into water.

"Mizu Bunshin!" Shino exclaimed.

**"Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!"** came Naruto's voice. Shino felt his ankles being grabbed and before he knew it, his body was underground while his head jutted out from the ground.

There stood Naruto, with Shino's kunai in his left hand, holding it pointed at Shino's forehead.

"Yield?" Naruto asked with a smile on his face.

"You didn't even try, did you?"

Naruto's smile widened.

"Pretty observant, aren't you?"

"I yield…" he replied.

"Well, I better go fix Kiba up" said Naruto as he got up and turned to the immobile figures of Kiba and Akamaru.

"What about me?" Shino asked.

"She'll help you" Naruto said as he pointed behind him.

Shino couldn't see behind him, his Kikai bugs did tell him who it was however.

"Kurenai-sensei…" said Shino.

"Just give me one second Shino…" Kurenai said as she preformed a jutsu to release Shino.

Naruto walked up to the immobile forms of Kiba and Akamaru.

"Do you two give up?"

"…"

"…"

Naruto grinned. "I take your silence as a yes."

He quickly formed a few seals and smacked the two on their foreheads.

Kiba blinked as he felt his limbs unlock. "Thank god! Man Naruto, where'd you learn that Jutsu?"

Naruto shrugged. "Known it for a while."

Kurenai and Shino had just approached the two talking Genin.

'_Where did he learn the Kokuangyo No Jutsu? That was an extremely powerful Genjutsu…'_ Kurenai asked herself.

"Hey Hinata" Naruto said. Hinata blushed as she was being addressed by her crush.

"Tell your father to come over anytime, he wanted to talk to me, so I thought I should let him know that I'm free. You should come to!"

Hinata nodded, once more not trusting her voice.

Kurenai saw this and grinned. '_So this is who Hinata likes…'_

"So Naruto" Kurenai said. "I heard that your team holds the record for capturing Tora. How did you do it?"

Naruto grinned as he remembered how that had happened.

_Flashback_

_Naruto and his team had finally arrived in a clearing that the target had been to recently._

_It had already been ten minutes and Naruto was losing his patience. Kakashi could sense this and was about to talk to the blonde when said blonde spoke up._

"_I'm getting tired of this already so I'm going to end this mission!" Naruto made a cross sign and created about fifty Kage Bunshin._

_He nodded to them; they nodded back and ran towards the target. _

_Naruto sat down, not even telling his teammates what he was doing. The others decided to rest for a moment when the ground shook and a loud explosion was heard. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke whirled around to see a large pillar of smoke further in the forest. Before they could react, another explosion was heard, and another. _

_Twelve explosions later, one of Naruto's Bunshin came into view, holding the dreaded Tora._

"_Mission accomplished…" Naruto said._

_Flashback ends_

Naruto chuckled at the memory. '_Good thing I threatened that thing. Now my team will never have to actually search for it. It'll find us, or else…'_

"Let's just say that Kage Bunshin is a wonderful jutsu."

Kurenai nodded, still unaware of how he had achieved what only the Yondaime and Tsunade had. Ten minutes for that mission seemed impossible.

"Well guys, I have to get going, a lot of stuff I need to take care of. See ya."

Naruto quickly used a Shushin to leave Team 8 to themselves.

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Naruto was climbing into his bed, feeling tired from the morning workout with Gai and Lee, and a pointless D rank when he felt a tug on his mind.

'_What does he want now?'_

Naruto allowed the tug to guide his mind as he fell into an unconscious state.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw the Kyuubi staring at him.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"This will be the last time I will speak with you until the transfer is done. Therefore, I will speak with you about your healing."

Naruto nodded.

"Your healing will be dependent on your chakra from now on. It will act just as your healing acted when using my chakra. It will weaken any poisons in your blood or chakra system to the point that your body can easily kill it with out your bloodline. This way, if you are exposed to the same type of poison a second time, your body can recognize it and destroy it without needlessly using your chakra."

"Your healing will take minimal amounts of chakra. If your arm were to be vaporized, it would take the same amount as a single Kage Bunshin to heal completely. You can of course, control your healing ability, although I don't see what the point in that would be."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I understand the whole thing; guess I'm smarter than people give me credit for."

Kyuubi sweat dropped. '_That was the severely simplified version…'_

"Kit, try to refrain from running out of chakra, it wouldn't do much good for you. Thankfully, the healing ability also helps with you chakra. If you were to run out of chakra, it wouldn't take very long for your chakra stores to refill."

Naruto smiled. "Wow, it kinda sounds like the Kaguya blood line."

Kyuubi shook his head.

"Kinda. The Kaguya Kekkei Genkai creates denser bones to use as weapons and heals any wounds created by using the bones. Wounds inflicted upon them by an external force heal naturally."

"Oh… I see."

Kyuubi shook his head. "Well, that's really all I have time to explain. If we keep this conversation going, it will speed up my death and you will not receive the final tail. So until the transfer is complete, I must say good-bye."

"Gotcha." Naruto felt him leaving his mindscape to return to his room.

"Well, this'll be interesting…" Naruto then turned onto his side and promptly fell asleep**.**

**_Just so you know, I'm not planning on telling everybody what jutsu is what until I actually start using homemade jutsu. Until then, take a guess at what jutsu is being used. _**

**_The next chapter will be released on Friday… I promise… No joke… Seriously…_**

**_Review!!_**

**_And once more, this is a NARUSAKUINO!! I guess I'll have to say this in every chapter… Of course, Naruto will have a fling here and there… I think he needs experience… So then, reviews and all will be well in the world. _**

**_Peace…_**


	5. Namikaze's Offer

Chapter 5: Namikaze's Offer

_**Well, here it is. Chapter 5, on the Friday that I promised. Happy? I am…**_

_**So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you don't, then oh well.**_

_**I think this is the shortest chapter I've done so far. Next chapter will be… interesting.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.**_

_**Chapter 5: Namikaze's Offer**_

"NARUTO!! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN AS BRIGHTLY AS EVER!!"

Naruto could have sworn that he felt his eardrum burst as he listened to the spandex clad Jonin go on his 'youth' rant.

Naruto had just completed his usual morning training with the two shinobi who were considered the best Taijutsu users in fire country.

"Yeah, thanks Gai-sensei…" Naruto sighed as he rubbed the throbbing ear.

'_Thank god for my healing' _thought Naruto as the pain subsided quickly.

Gai turned around suddenly, flashing his sparkling smile with his nice guy pose.

"GOOD MORNING TO YOU TWO!!" yelled the Jonin.

Naruto looked around Gai to see that Neji and Tenten had just arrived.

"Hey there Tenten-chan!" exclaimed Naruto.

Tenten smiled and waved at the handsome blonde.

"So how's the blade training going Naruto-kun?" she asked.

Naruto grinned. "Fantastic! I've mastered two of them and the third is well on its way."

Tenten smiled at her friend.

"Great! I expect to see them all when you've mastered them!"

"It's been nearly two months of training with three; I'll be finished in about another two. I hope…"

Naruto's attention shifted to the Hyuga.

"So, Neji."

"Naruto…"

"You going to take me up on that offer?"

"Fate has already decided that I would win."

Naruto scowled. "Fate is a _huge_ load of crap!"

Neji activated his Byakugan in slight anger.

"Says the man that is friends with most of the high ranking officials of the village."

"Friends? Please Neji, I've told you before that many of them still despise me for what I used to be!"

"Which is?"

Naruto didn't answer. Tenten and Gai knew the reason. Gai of course was old enough to know, and Naruto had told Tenten because Naruto trusted her enough and knew that she was a good natured person. Neither held a grudge but both knew that Neji probably wouldn't agree with the two.

"If I told you, I would make one more enemy for something out of my control. Let's just say that your little caged bird seal doesn't even compare to a seal I've had my entire life."

"What could be worse than a seal to control me?!"

"Beat me in a spar and I shall allow those two to tell you."

Neji saw Tenten visibly flinch at this.

"Tenten." Said Kunoichi snapped to attention. "Yes Neji?"

"What he says, is it true?"

From what Neji could see from Tenten's posture when she said the next sentence intrigued him.

"He definitely has a seal much more damaging than yours."

'_Hm. From her posture when she said this to Gai's increased heart rate, he truly does have a similar condition. Or worse.'_

"Fine. I accept" announced the Hyuga as he got into his Jyuken stance.

Naruto grinned as he got into a Goken stance.

"Great. Now I shall show you a technique that will render your Jyuken style utterly useless" he said as he drew a kunai.

"Tenten, will you be the referee?" Naruto asked. Tenten nodded.

"One, two, go!"

Neji shot forward, reaching out to end the fight quickly by shutting down the Tenketsu around the first chakra gate to knock the blonde out.

Unfortunately, the young Namikaze tilted to the left, avoiding the strike, grabbed the Hyuga by the forearm, spun on his heel, and threw him towards one of the training posts.

Neji controlled the momentum of his body to land on top of the training post.

What he saw next confused the Hyuga. Naruto threw a kunai past the Hyuga and lodged into a tree. Neji bolted towards the blonde again, intent on actually striking the Namikaze. Naruto circled around the training field, leading the Hyuga after him.

"What's he doing?" Tenten asked her sensei. "Those kunai he's throwing don't even have exploding tags on them and they don't even come close to hitting him."

Gai didn't answer his student for a moment. "Keep watching. After the ninth kunai, watch Neji closely."

Tenten only nodded as Naruto threw a seventh kunai which missed Neji by at least six inches.

Neji was getting irritated by the blonde. It seemed as if Naruto was making a fool out of the Hyuga.

'_Damn him! I'm a Hyuga! A prodigy!'_

Naruto threw two more kunai after dodging six Jyuken strikes. The two kunai lodged themselves in the dirt, six feet from each other.

"Now then…" Naruto said as he ran through hand seals.

"What?" Suddenly, Neji felt a pulse. It felt as if the ground beneath him had just pulsed, like a heartbeat.

"Now Neji hit me with your best shot…"

Neji pushed the thought of the pulse into the back of his mind as he charged at top speed towards the blonde.

"It ends now!"

Naruto stood there, smirking at the rage on his opponents face.

"You are within my divination!" As he said this, Neji felt something different as he launched his attack.

"Two palms!" Neji struck Naruto to find that he was unaffected.

"Four palms! Eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty two palms, SIXTY FOUR PALMS!"

Naruto stood there, completely unscathed.

"How?" asked Neji.

"**Hachimon Kyuugyou No Jutsu!"**

"What?"

"It means Chakra Gates Shutdown. It closes the gates so much that it disrupts the flow of your chakra and makes Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and your very own Jyuken style, utterly useless."

"How did you accompolish that?" asked Neji as he attempted to flare his chakra.

"The kunai I threw had seals engraved into the handle. If they are thrown into a pattern of a five point star with the five main kunai the points of the star and the four other kunai at the points where the lines intersect, then the seals on the handles are activated creating a field in between the five main kunai that closes the chakra gates of my enemy. It recognizes my own chakra so it doesn't shut my own down. So, do you give up?" he asked as he drew a kunai.

Neji quickly went through his list of options before coming to one conclusion.

"I forfiet."

Naruto smiled as he pocketed the kunai in his hand.

"Good choice. Well, there is one flaw in this technique. If one of the five outer or main kunai is removed, than the whole jutsu fails."

"Why the extra four?"

"They strengthen the jutsu and can act as decoys. If my opponent goes for one of those kunai, then I can eliminate them before they actually deactivate the jutsu."

Tenten's jaw had dropped at this point.

'_He's a genious!' _she thought as she watched the white coated shinobi pick up the kunai for his jutsu.

"EXCELLENT WORK NARUTO!! YOU HAVE CREATED A FANTASTIC TECHNIQUE THAT CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY!!"

Naruto flinched at the volume but shook it off.

"Thanks Gai-sensei."

"By the way, where's Lee?" Tenten asked.

As if on cue, the second spandex wearing shinobi in Konohagakure launched through the trees and into the clearing.

"NARUTO! I HAVE COMPLETED THE TASK I WAS GIVEN!!"

"Great. How did it go?"

"GAI-SENSEI, YOUR RIVAL'S FLAMES OF YOUTH WILL BURN BRIGHTLY THIS DAY AS HIS UNYOUTHFUL BOOK HAS BEEN BURNED!!"

Gai seemed to be in shock at this. Kakashi and no Icha Icha was like seeing what was behind his mask!

For the first time in a very long time, Maito Gai was speechless.

"Well, I need to go now seeing as how Kakashi might be on time because of this. He'll probably think it was me…" With that, Naruto Shushined away.

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Sakura had just finished her morning training and was feeling proud of herself. For the past month and a half, she had kept up with her personal training it was starting to show. She looked down at the lake she was standing on. She had read in a book about different chakra control excercises. She had quickly mastered tree walking and had moved on to water walking. These two exercises had been mastered and now she was doing them to gain more chakra.

She looked out at the training field to see that Naruto had just appeared. She lost her focus and fell into the lake below her.

Naruto was grinning when he saw the pink haired Kunoichi fall into the water just as he had done so many times when he had first met Jiraiya.

"HEY SAKURA!" he called out. He saw the head of pink hair break the surface of the clear water.

"COME HERE!"

Sakura felt her heartrate increase as she swam towards the blonde.

'_After two months of ignoring me, he's paying attention to me… Why?'_

'_**Maybe he still likes you?'**_

Sakura climbed out of the lake only to feel a large gust of wind dry her off.

"What was that?" she asked.

Naruto only grinned.

"Nice chakra contol there Sakura!"

Sakura felt her face heat up and was attempting to control the blushing.

"T…Thanks Naruto…"

"So, what else have you learned?"

Sakura was taken aback by the question.

"I already know that you've been doing some basic elemental chakra manipulation for your water affinity."

"How did you know?" Sakura blurted out.

"Please, you're not the only one who trains early in the morning Sakura."

"Oh…"

"So, learnt any water jutsu yet?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Well, ask Kakashi-sensei for a jutsu or two. I'm pretty sure that he knows quite a few of them."

"Oh… Thanks…" she said as she looked down at the ground.

'_**DAMN! I thought he was going to teach us one!'**_

'_I know…'_ thought a disappointed Sakura.

"However, I know a jutsu or two if you want to know them…"

Sakura's head shot up and Naruto could have sworn that she had just broken the sound barrier.

"Really?!" she asked enthusiatically.

"Yeah. I'll show you one jutsu that I'll teach you, however, it's extremely powerful. Think you can handle it?"

Sakura nodded without a second thought.

'_**Shannaro! Naruto-kun is totally gonna teach us an awesome Jutsu! He's so hot.'**_

Normally, Sakura would disagree with this thought, Naruto had changed however.

He was not the annoying academy student. He was probably the strongest Genin alive.

"Alright Sakura, stand behind me while I demonstrate this jutsu.

Naruto created a kage bunshin which jumped back so that they were thirty feet apart.

"Alrighty then."

Naruto ran through the necessary hand seals.

"**Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!" **

A large spinning pillar of water, shot from the lake and towards the bunshin at a tremendous speed.

Sakura's jaw dropped when she saw the clone obliterated by the powerful technique.

Naruto grinned when he saw he reaction. "It takes a lot of chakra to use that technique at that size. When I first used it, it was tiny and even a small rodent wouldn't have had trouble dodging it."

Sakura was so amazed by the display of power that she hardly even heard what Naruto was saying.

"Sakura… Sakura…! HEY!" Sakura was snapped out of her trance as she looked at the tall blonde.

"So, here are the seals."

Naruto then began to relay the seals slowly to her so that she could memorize them.

"Practice it after the mission; we don't want you to run out of chakra before the day ends."

Sakura nodded silently as she went over the seals in her head and how to form water based chakra.

Then, she remembered something she had read.

"Hey Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"Can you use Suiton techniques without being near a river or lake?"

Naruto smiled.

"The Nidaime could…"

"I know that, but what about you?"

Naruto only shrugged. "Maybe…"

Sakura glared at the young Namikaze in slight anger.

'_Thanks for the straight answer…'_ she thought sarcastically.

"So, Sasuke should be here in the next half hour and Kakashi should be here in the next two…"

Naruto grinned at Sakura's attempt at a conversation.

"So how about Ino?" he asked.

Sakura clenched her fist in anger.

'_Why's he talking about that pig?!'_

"She seems interesting, is she single?" Naruto asked as he watched Sakura's emotions play across her face in amusement.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW!!" Sakura yelled loudly.

Naruto chuckled at Sakura's answer.

"Come on Sakura, can't you take a joke?"

Sakura was seething with anger at being made fun of by the class dobe.

'_**He isn't a dobe… He just taught us an amazingly powerful Suiton jutsu without even asking for anything in return!'**_ warned Sakura's inner-self.

'_You're right, but that just wasn't kosher…'_

"So, you're here early Sasuke…" Naruto said towards the trees.

"Yeah, and? Kakashi-sensei told us to actually be on time today…"

Naruto nodded silently. He knew why they were on time today.

_**Flashback**_

Naruto and his team had just completed another pointless D ranked mission and were being excused when Naruto asked to talk to the Sandaime privately.

"Jii-san…" he started when they entered his office. "I want to take a look at some of the C ranked missions that are available for tomorrow…"

"Why would that be Naruto?"

"There is a specific C rank that I want…"

"How do you know of the C rank?"

"Premonition…"

Now, Naruto had actually had a few premonitions in his own time, as had the four Hokages. Usually, these were not taken lightly and the Sandaime knew this. Premonitions always lead to something bigger than they thought.

"Dream?"

Naruto nodded.

"What of?"

"A demon…" Naruto smirked. "Not Kyuubi or an actual demon. This was a man, not a sacrifice."

"There are many people who have gained the title of demon through their actions Naruto."

The blonde nodded as the Sandaime walked to his desk and pulled out twelve scrolls.

"These are the current C ranked mission scrolls that I have received."

"Does this mean that you are letting my team go on a C rank?"

The Sandaime nodded. "If I approve of the mission that you pick. However, I will need to know more of this premonition."

Naruto shook his head. "It's best if I don't tell you."  
The Sandaime sighed. "So be it Naruto…"

Naruto picked up a scroll and read through it.

'_Not this one'_ he thought.

As he picked up the next one, he contemplated how he would save the boy's life.

'_Haku… This time, I will save you, even if I have to save your master.'_

He picked up the tenth scroll and found what he was looking for.

"This one" he said quickly as he tossed the open scroll to the Sandaime who caught it with surprising agility.

"An escort mission to wave? That hardly sounds like the type of mission that involves a demon."

Naruto shrugged. "Not many C ranks do…"

Sarutobi laughed. "True… So, any word from Kyuubi in the last month?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, however I do think the transfer is close to ending. My gut tells me that it'll probably happen in the next month or so."

"As long as it isn't during the Chunin exams…"

"Oh! Are those coming up soon?"

The Sandaime mentally slapped himself for letting that information slip.

"Well, I…"

"Don't worry Jii-san, I won't tell anybody!"

The aged Hokage sighed in relief. "Thank god…"

"Yeah, so you'll tell Kakashi about the mission?"

"Yes, I will also be telling him to keep his guard up."

Naruto nodded. '_It won't matter anyways… We got through this the first time when it was a surprise…'_

"One more question…"

"Go ahead Naruto!"

"What would happen if a Nuke-nin from another village wanted to join ours?"

"It depends."

"Would there be a possibility of letting that ninja join?"

The Sandaime stared into the Namikaze's eyes, searching for a few minutes before he answered.

"Yes, there is a possibility."

"Thanks, just wondering…"

The Hokage nodded. "Well, Naruto, I have much work I must do, so you'll have to excuse me."

"It's okay Jii-san; I need you to keep this village floating for me until I become Hokage!"

Naruto then jumped out the open window.

'_Still the same old Naruto underneath it all…'_

_**Flashback ends**_

"Maybe we'll be getting a higher ranked mission!" Naruto suggested.

"Actually!" came their sensei's voice. "We have a C ranked mission today!"

Sakura jumped in the air joyously, Naruto and Sasuke high fived, and Kakashi looked on in amusement.

"Head home, and pack everything you need for a C ranked mission. I'm sure you remember the lesson on C ranked missions that I gave you, correct?"

"HAI!" chorused Sasuke and Sakura.

"Meet me at the gate in one hour. Oh, and Naruto? Tell Lee I owe him…"

Kakashi then Shushined away.

Naruto stood there, thinking of what was to come for the spandex clad ninja.

'_Kakashi is probably buying another copy right now. That must be why he gave us an hour… then it's off to wave and…'_

"Aw crap, I have to deal with Inari again!"

With that said, he stormed off towards the main gates.

When he arrived, he saw Kakashi reading his brand new book as expected with Tazuna sitting not far away from the scarecrow ninja drinking sake.

'_Here we go…'_

Sasuke was the next to arrive ten minutes later and then Sakura twenty after Sasuke.

"These three are my body guards? A blonde, an emo and a girl?"

Sasuke glared slightly at the drunk and Sakura was about to pound him into the ground.

Naruto however stared at the man before disappearing entirely and reappearing behind the client with a kunai to his neck.

"Believe me when I say that we are all that is needed for this mission Tazuna-san."

Tazuna gulped when he heard the sentence along with the slight killer intent that came with it.

"Sasuke would probably be enough if it weren't for a certain midget…" Naruto whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry, I won't tell the others about who's after you, until I have to…" he whispered again as he felt Tazuna shake.

He took the kunai away from the man's neck and put it in its holster.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei, we should get going now…"

Kakashi nodded. "Let's head out…"

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The walk was fairly quite as they walked along the dirt road towards their destination. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was overall, a peaceful journey. Three individuals were on high alert though. Tazuna was looking out for any bandits or ninja hired by Gato, Naruto was expecting a puddle anytime now, and Kakashi… was reading a brand new copy of Icha Icha Paradise…

Or, that was what it looked like. Kakashi was looking out for anything that seemed remotely out of place.

Then, two of the five saw it. A puddle, even though it hadn't rained for days. Kakashi noticed that Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna who were at the front of the group, passed it without a second though. His one available eye then turned to Naruto who was pulling out a scroll. Naruto caught Kakashi's eye and he quickly understood what it meant.

Let me take care of them…

Kakashi quickened his pace so that he was right behind Tazuna, leaving Naruto about eight feet behind the group.

Then, the puddle morphed into a pair of men. One of them shot towards the blonde, intent on tearing the Genin to pieces with their chain. What they didn't expect was for the blonde to quickly knick his thumb and drag the blood from his new wound along the open scroll he was holding. The next thing the two demon brothers knew, their chain had been hacked to pieces by a large sword.

The sword was completely flawless in its make.

The blade started out wide at the hilt and grew thinner half way up.

The hand guard seemed to be a hollow rectangular cube, with the top missing, allowing things to be placed there.

_**Authors note: This is one of Cloud Strifes swords in Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children. I'll post a picture for it later. Keep checking my profile ;)**_

Naruto channeled a bit of chakra into it, causing the sword to widen a bit with a click.

Naruto disappeared as the two demon brothers felt immense pain throughout their bodies.

The last thing they saw was their blood erupting from their bodies.

Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna gaped at what had just transpired while Kakashi stared wide eyed at the blade in Naruto's hand.

"Naruto, where did you get that blade?" he asked.

"My father found all six of the blades during the third great shinobi war. Of course, he never found out how to truly use all of the blades. At least two of them from what I've read in his notes."

"I never knew that he found the Heaven Key. I never thought I would see one of the nine blades of the Kyuubi no Kitsune…"

The two Genin and the bridge builder's jaws dropped at this.

"The nine blades of the Kyuubi?! Are they truly real?"

"The nine blades of the Kyuubi representing each tail. The most powerful and sought out weapons in the world created by what they are named after. The very flames of hell used to shape the metal, which forged the most powerful and unbreakable blades in existence. The key of hell otherwise known as Masamune. The key of earth, known as Souba. The key of Makai, known as Samehade. The six parts of the heaven key or the Tokoyonokuni Hiketsu are the blades my father found. Each of the nine blades are equally powerful."

"And you can use the Tokoyonokuni Hiketsu?" Sasuke asked.

"Kinda, I can only use three of the swords to a certain extent."

"…" Sakura's jaw was on the ground in surprise.

"Naruto, you did a great job and all, but we could have interrogated those two about why they were after us."

"It's okay Kakashi-sensei; I know what they were after and why…"

Naruto glanced over at Tazuna. "Care to tell them or shall I?"

Tazuna looked at Naruto with a look that clearly asked for pity.

"Fine, I will…"

Naruto launched into an explanation of the situation in Wave country and how Gato was after Tazuna.

"So shall we go back to the village and talk to the Sandaime about this?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

Naruto glanced back to Tazuna who was looking at his feet in shame.

"No, I knew of the conditions of this mission before we were even assigned to it. I'll talk to you about it later Kakashi-sensei" he said when he saw the look Kakashi gave him.

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Team 7 and their escort were walking along a day later. Sasuke was paying more attention to his blonde teammate as was Sakura. Sasuke had been completely awed by the skill displayed by Naruto and was sure that he was on par with his older brother.

Sakura was staring at the blonde and had to control her inner self from getting to imaginative. She had been completely impressed with the blonde's skill and his kindness that he had shown Tazuna.

Kakashi had put his book away after agreeing with Naruto that the next person would be at least a Jonin level shinobi.

Tazuna was feeling completely safe with Naruto by his side after seeing his Kenjutsu skills with a legendary blade that every nation knew of.

Naruto knew what was coming next as he launched a kunai into the bushes.

'_Like last time, a snow hare. Any minute now…'_

Kakashi inspected the bush to find the snow hare and figured out that it was for a Kawarimi.

They walked on for a few minutes when a whistling noise was heard. The noise got louder as Naruto and Kakashi pushed the other three to the ground as they felt something slice through the air above them.

Team 7 looked up to see a large Zanbatou in the side of a tree with a large man standing on the hilt.

"Zabuza Momochi, demon of the mist" announced Kakashi.

"Kakashi Hatake, the copy Nin. It truly is a pleasure to face you in combat. Could you hand over the old man? I've kind of been sent to kill him"

"Team 7, protect Tazuna! I'll handle this" Kakashi said as he pulled his Hitai-ate up to reveal his Sharingan.

'_The Sharingan!'_ Sasuke exclaimed mentally.

Naruto tuned everything out as Sasuke explained the Sharingan to Sakura. '_Now let's see, where is he?' _He sniffed the air, trying to catch any unfamiliar scents. '_He's better hidden than I expected.'_ He then concentrated, sensing for any chakra signatures.

Many ANBU knew how to do this, Naruto had been taught by Jiraiya and had surprised the pervert at how easy it was for the blonde. Jiraiya had then claimed that Naruto was better at detecting Chakra signatures than the Yondaime who had never overlooked anybody on the battlefield which helped with his Hiraishin No Jutsu.

Then, he detected it. Hidden in the trees from where Zabuza had thrown his Zanbatou.

'_Gotcha!'_

Naruto turned his attention to the fight and was surprised that Kakashi had already been captured.

'_What the hell? I must have really been concentrating on finding Haku!'_

Zabuza smirked underneath the bandages that covered his face.

'_So much for Kakashi!'_ he thought as he looked at the silver haired Jonin in his water prison.

"Let's deal with the little nuisances, shall we?" He did a few one handed hand seals as a Mizu Bunshin rose from the water.

"RUN! YOUR MISSION IS TO PROTECT TAZUNA!!" Kakashi yelled at his charges.

Naruto smiled.

"Kakashi, once you were captured, my objective changed. Sasuke, Sakura! Guard the old man!"

The two addressed by Naruto nodded as they stepped in front of Tazuna.

"Oh, and Zabuza? Tell Haku to stop hiding!"

Zabuza's eyes widened when he heard Naruto say this.

The blonde smiled as Zabuza's Mizu bunshin suddenly exploded. "I would also advise you to release my sensei, unless you want to face me in battle." Naruto smiled as he said this.

Zabuza was a bit unnerved by the smiling blonde.

'_He destroyed my Mizu Bunshin with a chakra pulse!! One of that magnitude and he isn't even affected by it!! Then he sensed Haku! His smile isn't cocky, just sure of himself. He could be trouble…'_

"I would do what he says Zabuza-sama. This one is… different." a voice said from behind Naruto.

"Nice to finally meet you Haku" said Naruto without looking behind him.

"You may know who _I_ am. I however, don't know who you are."

"Forgive me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the late Yondaime Hokage."

Zabuza's eyes widened when he heard this.

'_Minato! I remember that kid when he visited Kiri!'_

"So, are you going to release my sensei?"

Zabuza looked behind him to find the blonde standing there, smiling.

'_He's fast…'_

"Sure…" he said as he released the jutsu.

"Thanks, and now I have a proposition for you."

"What would that be Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he drew a kunai.

"Zabuza Momochi, I extend to you an invitation to join the ranks of Konohagakure."

_**Well, cliffhanger for you… Just to clarify, I did just state that Naruto was essentially the best at detecting chakra signatures, if he's concentrating hard enough. If you want to know how the Kakashi Zabuza fight went, it was pretty much canon except for that Zabuza didn't target the Genin first or at all really.**_

_**Yes, in my fic, Samehade is one of the nine blades of the Kyuubi. Why? Honestly, I couldn't think of anything else. Plus, Samehade was never fully explained so I just came up with a background for it. The other two swords are from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children as well. Sephiroth's sword and Kadaj's sword. If you don't know what they look like, watch the movie.**_

_**The next two chapters will be fun for me to write and just so you know as a teaser kind of thing, chapter seven will show quite a few characters because something big WILL happen in that chapter. **_

_**Someone asked me recently when Jiraiya will appear. He will appear soon and will meet Naruto earlier than in Naruto's time.**_

**_So, sorry about the short chapter. 4850, about..._**

_**Well, chapter six will be out in five to nine days. Sorry, I have a lot to do and I expect chapter six to be at least thirty pages. Well, I hope you enjoy.**_

_**REVIEW!! Please… **_


	6. Time's Up

Chapter 6: The Time Is Now

_**So, here we are again. Me posting you reading and very few reviewing.**_

_**I might have to start slipping in reminders during the story or something… REVIEW**_

_**So, it has been seven days and as promised, here is my very large chapter of awesomenessicity. No it isn't a real word but who gives a shit? I don't !REVIEW**_

_**Now then, enjoy the chapter and I hope you don't hate me for anything you find unsatisfactory! REVIEW!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own all homemade jutsu in this fic! NO STEALING DAMNIT! REVIEW!**_

_**Chapter 6: Time's up…!**_

Naruto sighed as he woke up from a light nap. He stretched his arms, getting rid of any stiffness.

'_Man, what a drag…' _he thought as he painfully popped his joints. _'Great, now I sound like Shikamaru, how troublesome…'_

Naruto got out his sleeping bag that he had been sleeping in. He looked around the room to find it simple and plain. '_At least Tazuna's house isn't like some of the others in town…'_

He stretched his back for a moment before grabbing the shirt by his sleeping bag and heading downstairs.

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Kakashi sat at the dinner table, reading Icha Icha Paradise as he spoke to his two Genin.

"So, as soon as Naruto wakes up from his nap, we'll begin our training."

"Why did you even let Naruto take a nap?" Sasuke asked, slightly irritated that Kakashi had denied him his request for a nap.

"Naruto has done a lot today, a lot more than necessary and therefore, he deserved a nap. Also, he was the one that was up last night on guard duty."

"Why'd you ask him to do it alone?" Sakura asked.

"He didn't" came Naruto's voice. Sasuke and Sakura turned around to find Naruto dressed in mesh tank top with black shinobi pants. In his hand, was a red t-shirt.

Sakura was drooling at this point. She could see Naruto's muscular body underneath the tank top. Then, she noticed something.

"Hey Naruto, what's on your torso?" she asked as she got up to get a closer look.

"Nothing" Naruto said quickly as he put the red shirt on.

Kakashi looked over the top of his book to see what Sakura was talking about and only glimpsed a part of what seemed to be a tattoo.

'_A tattoo… Interesting, it could be something more…'_

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he snapped his book shut.

"Alright you three, follow me, we have some training to do!" he said with his eye smile.

Kakashi had led the three of them into the forest near Tazuna's house.

"Well, let's begin your training. Today, you will be learning how to climb trees!"

"Um sensei, I already know how to do that" Sakura said.

"Maybe, but instead of normal tree climbing, you aren't allowed to use your hands."

"Like she said Kakashi-sensei, already done" Naruto said.

Sasuke wasn't following.

"Wait, what are guys talking about?"

Naruto sighed. "Sakura, why don't you demonstrate?" he asked.

The pink haired kunoichi nodded as she walked towards a tree.

Kakashi watched on curiously, wondering if they already knew the exercise.

He was mildly surprised when Sakura started to scale the tree using chakra to walk parallel from the ground.

'_What do you know…'_

"So Naruto, do you know how as well?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Pretty much. In fact, you should remember that when you were captured, I walked on water as well."

Kakashi had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"I may have been a bit caught up in the moment…" he said sheepishly.

Naruto waved him off. "It's alright… No sense in teaching Sakura water walking either, she can do it quite well."

Kakashi nodded, surprised that his team was far along already.

"What about you Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the Uchiha.

'_How? How did Sakura get this far already?'_ Sasuke asked himself mentally.

"No…" he said darkly.

"I see, well it's quite simple really. Just direct your chakra to your feet to cling to the surface of the tree and you walk!"

Sasuke nodded as Kakashi handed him a kunai.

"To keep track of your progress" the Jonin said lazily when Sasuke looked at him quizzically.

"Well then" Kakashi said as he rounded on Naruto and Sakura who had rejoined the blonde on the ground.

"What do I do with the two of you?"

Sakura answered first.

"Well, Naruto showed me a jutsu to try out for my affinity to water, so I was thinking of just working on that."

Kakashi nodded. "Good, what jutsu would that be?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto nervously, looking to see if it was okay to reveal to their sensei.

She felt relief wash over her when Naruto gave her a fox like grin and nodded.

"Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu" she said happily.

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly.

"Really? Do you think you can handle such a powerful technique?"

Naruto spoke up for Sakura.

"I've been watching her train herself to exhaustion every morning and night when not with us. She's been making great progress and I feel that the technique is great for her progress as a kunoichi."

Sakura blushed at the confidence that Naruto had in her.

'_A month ago, I wouldn't have thought I would hear him say anything like that!'_

'_**SHANNARO! Naruto-kun, I love you!!'**_

This caused Sakura to blush brightly. Kakashi's eyebrows rose at this.

'_Well well, isn't this interesting?!'_

"Th…thanks Naruto-kun…"

'_WHAT THE HELL?! DID SHE JUST SAY WHAT I THINK SHE SAID!?'_ thought two male Genin.

Sasuke was gawking at the pink haired kunoichi and then at Naruto thinking one thing.

'_That's great Naruto! One less fan girl on my back! Now, what can he do about the rest?!'_

Naruto was confused for the first time in a very long time.

'_This is very new… I can't complain but, what the fuck?!'_

Naruto shrugged off his shock and returned to the situation at hand.

"Kakashi-sensei, I have a request…"

"Hm?" Kakashi looked over at the blonde.

"Can you teach me the Chidori?" he asked.

This took Kakashi by surprise.

'_Well, he's a smart kid and my mission reports from back in the day aren't under guard or anything, so he could have read of the technique, but I didn't think he would ask me that!'_

"I don't know Naruto. For the technique to work properly, you would need the Sharingan."

Naruto nodded.

"I know that already Kakashi-sensei; however, thanks to my 'condition' my eyes can match my reaction time no matter what. Even when my condition has passed, it will stay that way."

Kakashi was once again taken aback by this response.

'_Really? Well, there is only one way to find out if it's true.'_

"Fine with me then. Follow me. "Sasuke, start climbing, Sakura, there is a beach over that way about a mile' he said as he pointed into the forest.

With everyone given something to do, Kakashi walked away, Naruto following closely.

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Zabuza sat on his bed, wondering what to do about the blonde's offer.

_**Flashback**_

"You what?" Kakashi asked, wide eyed.

"You heard me; I'm inviting them to join Konohagakure."

"Are you kidding me Gaki?" Zabuza asked aggressively.

"This has to be a joke…" Kakashi muttered.

"I'm sure that you and Haku are good people. I mean, I've heard a lot of the Mizukage, and I know that he must be corrupt."

Zabuza nodded. '_Oh you had better believe it kid. Never saw his face much either. The one time he let the shawl down; he was wearing an orange spiral mask!'_

"Then again, so were most of his clan."

Kakashi was confused. '_From what I heard, the Mizukage never came from a clan!'_

"You must be pretty tired of running from the Hunter-nin as well."

Zabuza's eyes widened. '_It's like this kid is reading my mind?!'_

"I don't need an all seeing eye or mirror wheel eye to notice the look in _your_ eyes."

Haku listened silently.

'_Judging from this boy's tone of voice, he isn't lying to us or tricking us.'_

Haku caught Zabuza's eye.

'_Zabuza looks uneasy, as does Hatake…'_ thought the masked shinobi as his gaze shifted to Kakashi.

"We won't force you or anything, and it is quite a decision, so we shall give you a week to decide." Naruto motioned to Kakashi to follow him as he walked back to the shore.

_**Flashback ends**_

"Where's Haku right now. I need to talk to that kid…" Zabuza said to himself.

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Kakashi was going over the same scene as Zabuza had been.

Kakashi never got an explanation from the Naruto and wanted one, and now seemed like the best time.

"Naruto" he said as he came to a sudden stop. Naruto knew what was coming.

"Why did you invite Zabuza, the demon of the mist, to join or village?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi's back, as he hadn't even turned to look at Naruto.

"I had a premonition about this mission" he said simply.

Kakashi wheeled around, facing the Genin.

'_Already? He's a bit young to be having premonitions!'_

"You already know that when a ninja sees the future somehow, someway, that it always comes to pass. I saw multiple outcomes that _could_ happen if I let it. So, I chose the one with the least amount of blood shed and with great prospects."

Kakashi nodded, indicating to go on.

"Haku and Zabuza are good people, a little misled, but good. I don't want the two of them to die; therefore, I will do everything I can to make sure that they live."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, that is quite a noble thing Naruto; however, we are ninja, not samurai. We need to complete the mission, not make allies with someone we believe to be good."  
"I know that Kakashi, it's just that I know that it would be best if these two would join our forces. Think about it, one of the greatest Kenjutsu users in the world, in Konoha, willing to pass on his teachings."

"Yes, but there is a reason that he is called the demon of the mist."

"I already know the reason and I really don't see the cause to worry. It was a graduation exercise that was thankfully disbanded, mostly thanks to Zabuza! I mean, look at Haku. He can't be much older than I am, and yet, he's traveling with Zabuza _safely_!"

Kakashi was silent for a moment when Naruto spoke up again.

"If you still doubt me, then ask Haku himself" he said nodding behind the copy Nin.

Kakashi whirled around to come face to face with a feminine looking person.

"Naruto-san…"

"Haku…"

They looked at each other for a moment before Kakashi broke the silence.

"Do you have an answer already?"

Haku shook his head.

"No, I simply wanted to meet Naruto-san here to see if what he said was actually possible."

Naruto nodded.

"It is. I talked to the Sandaime Hokage before coming on this mission and he told me that there was a chance that you could join."

"A chance…"

"Well, for Zabuza there's a chance. For you, I'm sure they would accept you right away. Especially since you have a bloodline."

Haku's head snapped up.

"How do you know that?"

"Your chakra feels like Sasuke's!" Naruto replied with a grin. "Sasuke is my dark haired teammate and he is also an Uchiha."

'_Uchiha?! That unfortunate clan…'_

"Konoha is a big fan of Kekkei Genkai!"

Haku nodded. "I see. I truly do want to join. But, if Zabuza says no, then I will have to decline as well."  
Naruto nodded.

"Well, I'm sure he will say yes in the end."

"How can you be sure?"

"Well, he may have been dubbed the demon of the mist by his own village; my village has called me a demon on many occasions. I'm sure that I can figure out a way to convince Zabuza."

Haku nodded.

"Well, I thank you for this meeting Naruto…"

Naruto watched as Haku spun around and walked away. Before Haku was out of earshot, Naruto called out.

"Oh and Haku! I can tell you're a girl! Your chakra is too similar to Sakura's!"

Kakashi's eye widened and Haku stopped dead in her tracks.

Silence ruled the small clearing that they were in for a solid five minutes before Haku spoke once more in her feminine voice.

"Don't tell Zabuza-sama, he doesn't know." Haku disappeared.

Naruto grinned at this. '_I always thought he was too feminine to be a guy…'_

Kakashi was eyeing the spot where the female had disappeared and then turned to look at Naruto.

'_Being around this kid is getting to be very interesting…'_

Kakashi watched the blonde as he thought of something.

"Well then Naruto, let's begin."

The blonde nodded as he brought his attention back to the situation at hand.

"Well, the Chidori is an extremely powerful and complicated move" Kakashi started.

"It's just a jab with flesh activation Kakashi-sensei."

"…" '_This kid is pretty smart…'_

"Yes it is, but I don't think you know much about flesh activation, so I guess we'll start on that."

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Sasuke had just gotten back to Tazuna's house to find the rest of his team sitting at the dinner table with Tazuna and Inari.

'_There's that brat again…'_ thought the Uchiha.

"What are you looking at?" the Uchiha snapped. He was angry enough that he was behind on his training compared to his two teammates.

"Sasuke, don't talk to Inari like that!" Naruto snapped.

"Shut up blondie!" Inari shouted.

Naruto replied with a glare.

Sakura sighed. '_Here we go again…'_

'_**Shannaro, this kid is a total brat!'**_

"Why do you even try?! Gato will only kill you!"

Naruto increased the glare with some killer intent.

"You think you have it so tuff. That you're the only kid in the world that has it hard. Well at least you have a mother that takes care of you!"

Inari only glared at the blonde in anger.

"SO DID YOU I BET!"

Naruto snapped, letting his altering hormones take control as he pinned Inari against the wall faster than Kakashi could react.

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRAT!! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF LIFE I LIVED! BY THE TIME I WAS EIGHT, I HAD NEARLY LOST MY LIFE SEVENTY THREE TIMES TO MY FELLOW VILLAGERS!! I WAS AN ORPHAN ON THE STREETS BECAUSE THE ORPHANAGE HAD KICKED ME OUT WHEN I WAS THREE, AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHO MY PARENTS WERE!! THEN, TO TOP IT ALL OFF!! IF A CHILD EVER WAS FRIENDLY TO ME, THEIR PARENTS ORDERED THEM TO IGNORE ME!! NOW COMPARE OUR LIVES AND TELL ME WHO HAS IT WORSE!!"

Naruto threw Inari to the ground and stormed out of the house.

Kakashi was still surprised for a number of reasons.

'_He was thrown out of the orphanage? He knew how many assassination attempts there were?'_ Kakashi had just lost even more respect for his home village.

Sakura was surprised at everything Naruto had said. '_He still smiles at everybody though…'_

Sasuke was surprised for the same reasons as Kakashi only he wasn't aware of the assassination attempts until now.

Inari was crying. Everything he had just heard, it seemed like a lie and yet he knew that it was true.

"Is he telling the truth?" Tsunami asked. Kakashi looked up to see the mother.

'_She's been here at least since Naruto lost his temper…'_

"I'm afraid so. You see, Naruto was hated for something he had no control over. In fact, he probably still is. The only reason he never died was because our Hokage had put him under ANBU protection from time to time."

"How is he such a care free person?" Tazuna asked.

"He doesn't hold a grudge against those that have wronged him in the past and never will. He wants to become the leader of our village just as his father once was."

"Why?" Tsunami asked.

"To protect the home that he loves…" Kakashi said with a tone of finality.

He looked over to where Inari was to find that he had disappeared.

"I'll go talk to your son, clear things up."

Kakashi got out of his seat and left the kitchen. He wandered through the house and out to the deck.

He saw Inari sitting on the edge, looking at his reflection in the sea water underneath him.

Kakashi approached the young boy. "May I sit?" Inari only nodded, silent tears running down his face.

Kakashi sat next to the boy, his feet now submerged in the cool liquid of the sea.

"Naruto didn't mean to snap like that. He's just going through a lot lately and it's starting to show."

"So… It's all true?"

Kakashi sighed. "It is. I was one of the people that had to save him a few times…"

Inari felt more tears welling up in his eyes.

"He doesn't hate you." Inari looked up at the masked man. "He never will either. That boy is incapable of hatred." Kakashi then thought back to the Tora missions.

"Well, unless you're a certain cat…" he said with a smile.

Inari only looked confused but Kakashi didn't explain.

"Naruto only hates it when people underestimate how much pain others have been through. He won't judge that person, but he will yell for a moment. In fact, he probably feels bad about it and is trying to figure out a way to apologize right now!" he said happily.

Inari smiled.

"He knows what happened to your father…"

Inari's head snapped to Kakashi.

"We all heard about it, and I know that it probably hurts but remember that you still have your mother and your grandfather to help you."

Inari nodded, thinking about how to apologize to the powerful and temperamental blonde ninja.

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Naruto went through the hand seals again.

'_Come on!'_ he yelled mentally at himself. '_I'm close, I can feel it!'_

He saw that his hand was gathering some of the lightning based chakra, but not enough.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled when the jutsu fizzled out.

He went through the set of hand seals again, pumping a bit more chakra into the jutsu.

However, the results were the same.

'_Raiton jutsu are as hard as ever…'_

Naruto sat down for a moment to concentrate and figure out what he was doing wrong.

"Kakashi said to start off slow and I am, but I need it to stay alive for more than a few seconds to keep going."

He had already tried pumping more chakra into it to keep it alive, but he would keep canceling the jutsu out.

'_At least I can do it better now than in my own time…'_ thought an amused yet infuriated Namikaze.

Then, Naruto felt a chakra signature in the distance.

'_Who's that?'_ he asked himself.

He got up as he felt the signature suppress itself.

'_It's familiar, but who?'_

Naruto concentrated on the chakra signal as it headed towards town.

'_I can't tell who it is, but it definitely isn't a Konoha shinobi.'_

Naruto took off towards the town.

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Kakashi arrived at the training spot that Naruto had been just minutes before. '_It's too late for him to be out here…'_ thought the copy Nin.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness that had taken over in the suns absence.

'_He's not here, but… What's this?'_

Kakashi felt Naruto's chakra flare a bit.

'_He's not fighting, but something is happening'_ thought Kakashi as he took off in the direction he felt his students chakra.

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Naruto arrived in the desolate streets of wave. A few people littered the streets here and there, to poor to have a roof over their heads.

'_Fucking Gato, this time, it'll be me that kills you.'_

Suddenly, he felt the same chakra signature not far from his current location.

'_Gotcha!'_ he thought as he took off in that direction, suppressing his own chakra.

He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop when he saw it.

A figure in a black and silver cloak.

The figure clearly sensed the young Namikaze as it took off in a seemingly random direction.

Naruto continued after it, unafraid of what might happen.

Naruto then noticed where they were headed.

'_The bridge.'_

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Kakashi was now visibly panicking.

He had felt the same chakra as Naruto and he had felt it before. He couldn't place where, only that it couldn't be good. The two signatures that he was now trailing were headed towards the client's bridge.

'_Is it one of Gato's goons?'_

He increased his speed to catch up.

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Naruto had the figure cornered at the edge of the bridge.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked. The figure stood silently, looking across the large gap between the main land and the bridge.

"I'm talking to you!" Naruto yelled.

The figure turned towards the Jinchuriki.

It held up its hand, palm facing Naruto who quickly got into a defensive stance.

With the other hand, it went through a few one handed seals before Naruto was surrounded by a tornado of fire.

Naruto glared the vortex of fire he was in. '_This is way too familiar…'_

He ran through his own seals.

"_**Suiton Suijinheki!"**_ he called out as a large amount of water blasted from Naruto's mouth and created a tornado within a tornado. The fire hit the large vortex of water and exploded into steam. Naruto bolted forward just in time to see the figure jump off the bridge.

"Shit…" He watched as the figure hit the water far below.

"Naruto!" a voice called out before Naruto could dive in after the person.

Naruto turned around to find his sensei watching him.

"Oh, hi Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi walked to the edge of the bridge and stood next to Naruto, looking down at the water, searching for the mysterious person.

"Who was that?" he asked his student.

"Good question. I wish I knew, I just felt something familiar about the person and followed their chakra signature."

"They seem to be hiding it quite well at this point…" Kakashi pointed out to Naruto.

He nodded. "I can't feel it anymore."

"So, feeling any better?" he asked.

Naruto nodded again. "Yeah, I had to get rid of my frustration somehow and failing the Chidori seemed like a good idea."

"Need any help?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head.

"Well, I'm here if you do…"

"I know Kakashi-sensei; I just think I figured it out though…"

With that, Naruto turned around and started heading back to Tazuna's.

"First things first, sleep" yawned Naruto.

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"GOD DAMN IT SAKURA!!" yelled a sopping wet Naruto.

Sakura grinned as she looked over at the large empty basin she had dragged upstairs

"I got that jutsu down now" she said.

"I can see that, but using it to wake me up was a bit unethical…"

Sakura only grinned.

"Why didn't you use it on Sasuke instead?"

Sakura was silent.

"Is it because he's your Sasuke-kun?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head as she blushed.

'_I wanted to have you be proud of me'_ she thought.

"I… well, I wanted to…um… show you…" she said as she got redder.

"Oh, well I guess that's fine, but next time, use warmer water…"

Sakura nodded as she grinned mischievously.

Naruto got out of his sleeping bag and Sakura felt herself flush.

Naruto was shirtless. Sakura couldn't take it anymore and fainted.

'_Okay then?'_

Naruto shrugged, walking out of the room, leaving Sakura with her perverted thoughts.

Naruto sat down at the table noticing that Sasuke was already gone.

"He's training right now" came Kakashi's voice.

"How far up?" asked Naruto.

"Half way up."

Naruto nodded as he watched Tsunami cooking.

"…"

'_I need to get my mind out of the gutter'_ thought a staring Naruto as Tsunami continued to cook with her back turned to him.

Kakashi noticed Naruto staring at something and followed his eye line before smirking.

"So, Naruto…" he let it linger in the air.

Naruto glanced at the Jonin and noticed the way he was looking at him.

'_Shit, I just got caught…'_

What he didn't notice, was the grin that Tsunami was sporting as she looked at the reflection in the mirror.

She knew that the boy was off limits seeing as how he was only thirteen, but she was only twenty three and had a chance in a few years.

For the rest of that day, Tsunami had a large grin plastered on her face.

"Naruto, I have a book recommendation for you!" Kakashi stated quite enthusiastically.

'_DAMN YOU KYUUBI!!'_

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Naruto was back at the training field he had found the day before.

Naruto was sweating slightly and was thankful that he was in a Gi that day. The Gi that he had been wearing was torn in several places.

He had also thankfully brought a spar, not wanting his sensei of a certain tattoo he was sporting.

He ran through the hand seals one more time.

"_**CHIDORI!"**_ he yelled as he charged the lightning chakra into his palm.

He had finally mastered his sensei's original technique.

He watched in fascination as electricity danced around his right hand, creating a chirping noise.

Then, a new noise joined it. It sounded like, clapping.

Naruto let the jutsu die out as he turned around to face his lazy teacher.

"I'm impressed Naruto. All I did was show you the seals and what it looked like and you finished it in twenty four hours exactly!" Naruto grinned.

"So, can you only do it with your right hand?" Kakashi asked with his patented eye smile.

"Kinda. I've done it with my left hand, but it wastes more chakra and it's harder to control."

Kakashi nodded. "I suggest perfecting it with your left hand now. Once you've done that, I might teach you the next level to that technique."

"The Raikiri? I thought that was the Chidori, just a different name for it."

Kakashi went back to his lazy demeanor. "That's what many have said, but the Raikiri is easier to control and is at least three times deadlier than the Chidori. It increases your speed, pierces through nearly anything, and can be used in a slashing motion while the Chidori is a thrusting motion."

Naruto nodded. He hadn't known of the differences until now.

"I should get going on it then!!" Naruto proclaimed loudly as he ran through the hand seals yet again.

Kakashi chuckled.

'_Nearly a mirror image of Minato-sensei! One moment he's completely serious, the next he's totally care free! Not to mention he's extremely gifted with Ninjutsu!'_

"While you do that, I'm going to check up on the others. Oh, and Naruto?"

Naruto looked up from the failed Chidori from his left hand.

"You don't have to henge the Bunshins you keep sending to the bridge. I can see straight through them."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Sorry sensei, I'm just kind of paranoid…"

Kakashi nodded. "That's fine, but just letting you know that you don't have to henge them to help out with working there!" Kakashi then took off into the trees, heading to Sasuke's position.

Naruto smiled and was about to continue his training when he sensed danger. He quickly pulled a kunai out of its holster on his leg and knocked the six shuriken aimed at his head out of the air.

He grabbed the shuriken before they hit the ground and through them back at the trees.

He heard the six shuriken hit the tree and a squeal of fear.

"What is it Sakura?" he asked.

The pink haired Kunoichi appeared from the shadows of the tree, looking slightly fearful.

"I meant to miss so don't worry about it…"

This seemed to calm Sakura down. "Oh, thanks."

"So… What is it?" Naruto asked politely.

"Well, I was wondering if I could spar with you."

Naruto looked at Sakura for a moment, trying to get eye contact.

Sakura kept looking down at her feet, occasionally looking up at the blonde only to look back down in embarrassment.

Finally Naruto answered.

"No, not for a while."

Sakura was about to complain when Naruto continued.

"The only form of Taijutsu you know is the academy style which can easily be beaten by my style. Then, I already know the jutsu you know and your most power Ninjutsu is lacking seeing as how you still don't have the complete hang of it. Then Genjutsu won't work on me because I can easily overpower any Genjutsu you throw at me because they are academy Genjutsu."

Sakura deflated more and more as Naruto listed the reasons.

"However, I have a different proposition for you. Ask Kakashi-sensei to teach you a Taijutsu style, one that would work well with Suiton jutsu, or maybe medical Ninjutsu seeing as how I could see you using that kind of jutsu with your chakra control. I want you to be prepared when we actually spare one another. I want to see something surprising from you Sakura, not predictable and nearly everything in your arsenal is exactly that. Predictable."

Sakura nodded.

'_He's only trying to help me…'_

"Kakashi went that way, so I suggest going after him and asking."

Sakura nodded and was about to leave when Naruto spoke up once more.

"Oh, and one more thing. Nice throw with the shuriken."

Sakura smiled as she walked in the direction that Naruto had pointed towards.

'_At least I can throw well…'_

Naruto sighed. '_At least she's progressing faster than last time.'_

Naruto popped his back, and went back to training his Chidori.

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Kakashi watched in amusement, hidden in the trees, as Sasuke continued his attempt at climbing the tree.

'_Here I was ready to believe that Sasuke was the best on this team and yet, the supposed dead last is the one learning my own original Ninjutsu. Then Sakura is constantly training since the bell test and is learning a powerful Suiton jutsu that Naruto taught her. This world is _full_ of surprises.'_

"Hey Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask.

'_Her stealth has also gone up.'_

"Yes Sakura?" he asked without looking to the pink haired girl on his left.

"I need some help…"

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The week passed by quickly for Naruto. He had surprised his lazy sensei one day by activating two Chidori at once in both hands.

When asked how he had done it without the use of seals, he shrugged and said, "A shit load of chakra and a lot of concentration."

Of course, Naruto had then deactivated the jutsu and asked that he have lunch brought to him since he had been doing that so often that day that he was nearly out of limitless chakra.

Even the Namikaze had his limits.

Of course, he didn't deplete his chakra reservoir, that would have led to some problems with his tenant's transfer of power.

Sasuke had made up the tree on the fifth day of training and was given the last two to rest.

Sakura had continued her training on the jutsu Naruto had given her along with Taijutsu training with Kakashi, who knew of the perfect Taijutsu style that could work with any long range techniques.

Tazuna was also making great progress with the bridge.

The first day in wave, Naruto had pulled him aside and told him about the Kage Bunshin technique and that he would help the building process using that technique. So every day, fifty Narutos would be at the bridge, doing whatever Tazuna ordered them to do.

Finally, it had been a full week since meeting Zabuza and they were all going to the bridge. Well, almost all of them.

Naruto told them to go ahead with a few bunshin of his while he stayed back for an hour to deal with something.

When asked, he told them not to worry about it and that he would be fine.

Inari was fast asleep at the moment, having been up all night, spying on the Kage Bunshin that Naruto used to scout the area at night while they were all asleep.

Tsunami was downstairs with Naruto in the kitchen, both of them flirting a bit with each other.

Sure, Naruto was only thirteen and Tsunami was a decade older than him, but he was technically from the future. Plus, it wasn't like anything was going to happen between the two. Right?

"So, how strong are you compared to Kakashi?" she asked with a blush.

"Good question." Naruto said as he shrugged. "Honestly, I would say we were even. If we were to fight, well I think he would win because he's had more experience in the field."

Tsunami smiled at the boy.

'_He doesn't seem arrogant, that's good.'_

Then, she noticed Naruto's facial expression.

"That's more than last time…" he whispered. Tsunami was about to ask what he meant when the front door seemed to explode.

Naruto disappeared from Tsunami's sight. She whirled around to see him with a sword out. The same sword that her father had told her about. One of the nine!

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the two swordsmen that he had defeated in his own time. This time however, they were accompanied by what seemed to be six missing Nin from Kiri.

"So, more mist ninja. You don't look like much compared to Zabuza."

The two samurai were about to remark that a teenager was going to be easy to handle when they saw the sword shift slightly.

"Th…That sword!" one of them said.

"That's right. This is the Chakra Hiketsu, one of the nine."

As soon as the words left Naruto's mouth, he disappeared and the two samurai fell to the floor, dead.

The six missing Nin looked around wildly until they spotted the blonde, standing on the water behind them.

Naruto smirked at what they were wearing.

They all had the same outfit as Zabuza.

"Wow, so Zabuza has fan boys. That's scary. I feel sorry for the guy!"

The missing Nin seemed angry at this comment and charged him, blinded by anger.

Naruto smirked, still holding his blade.

"I'll make this quick."

He threw the blade into the air and ran through a few hand seals.

'_Let's see how fun this is'_ thought Naruto as he felt the hand seals guide his chakra.

"_**Chidori.**_"

Naruto smiled at the chirping sound the technique made as he stood there impassively, watching the six ninja approach him. He lowered himself into a running position.

"This'll be… electrifying!" he declared confidently, in his mind however, he was berating himself.

'_WHAT THE HELL? THAT SOUNDED SO FUCKING LAME! SOMETHING GAI MIGHT SAY! Wait a second… Shit, I have to stop hanging out with those two.'_

Naruto charged forward, smirking at the fact that none of the enemy had even taken out a kunai. His hand tore through the closest enemy. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the odd sensation that the Chidori gave his hand when it happened.

'_I'll ask Kakashi about that later.'_

Then he changed his direction, going for the farthest Nin to his left.

He charged through him as well and made a quick U-turn, heading towards the next victim.

Inside the house, Tsunami was watching in fascination as each enemy suddenly collapsed as a chirping noise filled the air.

'_It sounds like birds…'_

Then, she felt someone behind her. She turned around only to be slapped.

Naruto had dealt with the last ninja and watched as the lifeless bodies floated in the sea.

Naruto sighed. '_I don't like killing, but they deserved it…'_

He turned and held his hand out, catching his large sword that he had thrown into the air not more then six seconds earlier.

He sealed it back into the scroll he kept it in and walked back to the house when he heard a scream.

Naruto's eyes widened.

'_Damn, I missed that one!'_

Naruto jumped towards the house and landed on the deck to find a large man wearing jeans and a Chunin vest. He had a Konoha headband with a slash through it. The man looked at Naruto only for his eyes to widen.

"Y…y…you're sup…supposed to be dead!"

Naruto smirked. "Sorry to disappoint."  
Naruto looked down at Tsunami to see that she was being held by her long hair.

"I suggest that you let go of her."

The man sneered. "Why? I get a lot of money from Gato if I give her to him."

Naruto stared at the man before shaking his head. "Yeah, and if you don't let go of her in the next three seconds, I'm going to give the Shinigami a present."

Naruto watched the man's reaction. He looked down at Tsunami and sneered again.

'_Wasn't this guy afraid of me a second ago?'_

"I'd like to see you try!"

Naruto sighed as he held up his right hand.

"Fine by me" he said as he molded his chakra in the palm of his hand.

The missing Nin from Konoha watched as the boy in front of him created a Rasengan.

"Now that Tsunami's safe, you'll be leaving now."

The man looked down in confusion to see that he was now holding a piece of paper. Then he noticed the paper had a seal on it and….

The paper exploded in his hand.

Naruto released the Genjutsu he had put over the man revealing that the house was about forty feet away and that they were next to the forest.

Naruto watched the man talking to a squirrel before the explosive note went off.

Tsunami was being carried by Naruto, bridal style as she watched the blonde in fascination.

She looked down to see that he was also standing on the water.

'_So this is what a ninja can do…'_

Naruto looked down at Tsunami.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Tsunami stared at the blonde before doing something she would always dream about afterwards.

She kissed her savior.

Naruto had nearly lost his concentration and nearly sent the two of them into the water when she did this as his mouth had been open and she had taken advantage of that.

Then, he found himself enjoying it. Perhaps a little to much as he forgot about what was probably happening at the bridge. Tsunami pulled away from Naruto when she realized just what she had done.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

Naruto just smiled at the woman in his arms.

"It's okay. It was just a kiss, right?"

She nodded.

"I need to go so…" Naruto jumped towards the house, landed on the deck and let her down.

"This'll all be over soon."

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Kakashi sighed when they arrived at the bridge, thinking one thing. Naruto's Bunshin had run out of chakra and dispersed at that moment.

'_I really hate this damn technique…'_ Around them, was a thick mist, much like their first encounter, only this time without the blonde zoning out.

"So, Zabuza…"

"He he he… I see you still have those two brats with you. Where is the Namikaze?" Zabuza asked, out of everyone's sight, hidden in the mist.

"He's on his way, just had a few errands to run…"

Zabuza smirked. "I see, well then I guess I need to give _you_ my answer."

Kakashi sensed it coming and nodded to Sasuke.

"Go ahead Sasuke…"

Sasuke smirked when he disappeared at the exact moment when seven Zabuzas appeared.

Then, they exploded into water, Sasuke reappearing with kunai in each hand.

"Hmm, impressive show of speed, wouldn't you agree Haku?"

"Hai, Zabuza-sama…"

"I guess the answer is no…" Kakashi sighed.

Zabuza chuckled. "Very observant Kakashi."

Kakashi raised his Hitai-ate, uncovering his Sharingan.

"Well, I guess we need to finish our last fight" he said.

"Indeed we do Kakashi. Haku. Go after the Uchiha!"

'_So Haku told him about Sasuke…'_ thought Kakashi.

"Sakura! Protect Tazuna!" Kakashi said as he jumped forward, deeper into the mist.

Sakura nodded her head as she pulled out a kunai in one hand and three shuriken in the other.

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Naruto was jumping from tree to tree, trying to get there as fast as he could.

'_Damn, feels like they said no…'_ Naruto could feel Zabuza's and Haku's chakra signatures from his position.

'_Well then, time for plan B. It's nearly time; I need to get there quickly.'_

Naruto pushed chakra into his feet to help his progress quicken.

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Sasuke was feeling confident at the moment. He had escaped his opponent's last attack that had been set up by Sasuke himself by killing those Mizu Bunshin. He was faster than his opponent and he could feel something happening to him that he knew was good, but he couldn't explain it.

Then, things went down hill. Haku had preformed some seals and the water around them had transformed into a dome of ice mirrors.

Sasuke looked at the hunter nin look a like. '_What is this jutsu?'_

As if reading his mind, Haku answered the Uchiha.

"This is my bloodline" he stated simply as he stepped into one of the mirrors in front of Sasuke.

When he did this, his image was projected into all of the mirrors.

Sasuke was thrown off by this move.

"Damn" he muttered. '_Where's Naruto when you need him?'_

Haku looked at the dark haired boy before readying his Senbon needles.

"It is time…"

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Sakura noticed the fog growing thicker for a moment and then clanging sounds.

"Zabuza and Kakashi must be fighting" she muttered. Then, she heard what she had been waiting for.

"_**Fuuton Kaze Kadou!"**_

Sakura felt the mist around her being sucked towards Naruto's voice, as if caught in some sort of vacuum.

Sakura and Tazuna whirled around to see Naruto's palms facing the sky, where the mist was being condensed into a ball.

Naruto smirked when Zabuza growled in frustration.

'_Thanks Naruto, that takes away his advantage…'_ Kakashi thought in relief.

The ball of condensed mist seemed to evaporate as Naruto clenched his hands, forming fists.

'_I need to learn that jutsu…' _Kakashi thought to himself.

"So the Namikaze showed up after all!" Zabuza said.

Kakashi eye smiled. "He isn't the type to back out of a fight."

Zabuza grunted as he ran through a few more hand seals.

'_I can't use my Kirigakure Jutsu since the blonde will use that wind thing to render it useless… I guess I need to use _that_ jutsu!'_

Zabuza sighed.

'_There is that chance of death that bothers me though…'_

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Haku was gaping at the Uchiha. For the first few attacks, Sasuke had been utterly defenseless, now, he had awakened his Sharingan.

'_Damn, this complicates things…'_

'_I can see his movements, this is great! Next time I spar with Naruto, I might beat him!'_

Haku readied his Senbon needles once again.

'_I don't like killing, but it seems to be the only way to defeat this child.'_

Haku charged forward, intending this to be the final blow. He didn't expect this however.

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Naruto was watching the two fights happening at the same time.

'_Sasuke could win, and Kakashi is the same. Yet, I think Zabuza has one last trick up his sleeve… I can't tell though. Kakashi had better not… SHIT!'_

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what was happening.

He looked at Sakura and decided what needed to be done.

Sakura was watching Sasuke's battle now that she could see him and she was not disappointed.

Haku seemed to be a blur to her, but Sasuke had dodged ever strike up to now.

'_He's going to…'_ her world suddenly went black.

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Zabuza was going through the hand seals necessary for his final jutsu in the fight. It was a guaranteed win.

Then, he stopped.

'_This chakra! It's so… demonic!'_ he thought as he felt the pulse of chakra.

'_It feels, familiar.'_

Kakashi was also thinking the same thing when it hit him.

'_Already?!'_

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Sasuke was ready for Haku as he saw the 'hunter nin' prepare for the next move when he felt something smash into his head.

Then, everything was gone.

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Haku's mirrors exploded into water as Naruto charged in to the dome of ice.

"Konoha Reppuu!" Naruto announced as he kick his own teammate in the temple.

Sasuke dropped like a ton of bricks.

Haku fell to the ground; he had been in one of the mirrors when they had collapsed.

'_How did he destroy my jutsu?' _she asked herself.

Naruto picked up the Uchiha by the collar and threw him to Haku who caught him in her arms.

"Get him out of here now!" he yelled.

Haku sat there on the ground, confused at what the blonde was asking of him, the enemy.

"Nani?" she asked.

Naruto fell to his knees, clutching his head.

"**GO!" **he yelled in a voice that didn't fit him. "**GET ZABUZA, KAKASHI, TAZUNA, AND MY TEAMMATES AND GET OFF THE BRIDGE!!"**  
Haku nodded, as the blonde's voice sent shivers up her spine.

She stood up, Sasuke being carried 'bridal style' and bolted towards Zabuza and Kakashi as fast as humanly possible.

Naruto felt his body throb in pain.

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Kakashi had already yelled at Zabuza to run for it and had picked up an unconscious Sakura and a distraught Tazuna.

"YOUR STUDENT WENT INSANE!! HE KNOCKED SAKURA OUT AND RAN FOR IT!!"

Kakashi chuckled darkly.

"No Tazuna, he just saved Sakura a lot of grief."

Tazuna seemed confused as they reached the end of the bridge.

Haku appeared next to the copy nin just as Zabuza appeared.

"What's happening?" they both asked the Jonin.

Kakashi nodded towards the bridge. "I'll tell you when this is all over."

Zabuza and Haku turned around to see red chakra cover the entire bridge.

Naruto was screaming in agony as the Kyuubi's chakra flowed through him.

'_**Kit! Time's up, the transfer is in its final stage…'**_

_**JUTSU LIST / TRANSLATION**_

_**I will be giving desciptions some other time… Maybe at the end of part one I'll do an entire chapter for those who actually want the descriptions of all jutsu in this fic!**_

_**Chakra Hiketsu **__(Chakra Key)_

_**Fuuton: Kaze Kadou No Jutsu **__(Wind release: Wind vortex Technique)-homemade_

_**Chidori **__(One Thousand Birds)_

_**Kirigakure No Jutsu **__(Hidden Mist Technique)_

_**Suiton Suijinheki **__(Water Release Water Barrier Wall)_

_**More cliffhanger! Hate me much? You know you like it! So, when I told a friend about Naruto learning Chidori, he told me that I'm making him to powerful.**_

_**Well, here's what I say. In his own time, he was going to be the next Rokudaime, I'm pretty sure I implied that in this fic at one point or another. REVIEW!! Plus, in the manga, Sasuke is way strong, overly strong in my opinion. I'm not against Sasuke, but in the manga, Naruto is nothing compared to the Uchiha and that disappoints me…**_

_**So, I'm giving Naruto much power in this fic. Don't like it? TUFF!**_

_**So, I hope you liked this chapter and the next chapter will have some characters that haven't appeared in my fic yet. Only briefly though. REVIEW!!**_

_**Just to clarify, I had someone message me asking me if Kyuubi is going to die in this fic after the transfer. Haven't I stated this in chapter one?? I can't really remember but I think I did. Kyuubi will not be in Naruto any longer, death waits for everybody, including Kyuubi! REVIEW!!**_

_**Any who! This is the longest chapter so far, and may be the longest chapter for a while! Or even in part one! I'll update in the next week. At least by Wednesday! Friday tops…**_

_**HAVE YOU REVIEWED IT YET!?**_


	7. End Of A Jinchuriki

Chapter 7: End of a Jinchuriki

_**Hello again from FANFIC!! Here it is, chapter 7! Now then, this chapter is pretty good in my opinion and if there are any spelling or grammar errors, I'm sorry. My spell check thingy is being a dick and will work occasionally if ever. Certain Characters appear in this chapter but they are brief.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. I do own any homemade jutsu!**_

_**Chapter 7: End of a Jinchuriki**_

_**Announcement: This entire transfer scene was inspired by a song. In the House -in a heartbeat by John Murphy 28 Days Later Soundtrack :) **_

Jiraiya giggled his perverted giggle as he hid in the trees surrounding a hot spring. It was surprising that he could hide well with the outfit he always wore. He occasionally scribbled something in his notebook which was followed by another perverted giggle. Then, he stopped. He couldn't believe it! He jumped out of the tree silently and landed just outside of the hot spring.

He looked in a specific direction, south.

What he saw nearly made his jaw drop, nearly.

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Orochimaru had just returned to his new hideout and was about to enter the sinister doorway when he stopped in his tracks. '_Kukuku… This is _very _interesting…'_

He turned around and looked south-east. He grinned. '_That makes another possible vessel.'_

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Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were slowly wandering through a small town, clad in their black robes which were decorated with red clouds and their hats.

"Well well, isn't this interesting!" Kisame said suddenly.

Itachi was slightly surprised when he glanced at Kisame who was holding a glowing and pulsating Samehade.

"I'm sure you know what it's reacting to…" the Uchiha stated. They turned around and looked towards a great spectacle as was everyone in the streets.

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Madara Uchiha was a man of power and only associated with others with power. A man known as Pein sat next to him as they watched a plan altering event.

"Call all of the members, we need to scrap plan A…" the orange masked shinobi ordered.

The man nodded silently as he turned around, cloak whirling majestically behind him.

"Hai, Madara-sama."

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Tsunade and her assistant Shizune had just walked out of yet another casino where the great Slug Sannin had miraculously won. Shizune was holding onto Tonton very tightly, taking the winning as an omen. Tsunade actually was worrying as well seeing as how whenever she won, nothing good ever followed. Then, they realized just why Tsunade had won as they whirled around and looked towards the west.

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Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. This was a village that was always working in the day, never standing still. Never before had the entire village just stopped what they were doing and focused on one thing, until now.

The Sandaime was in his office, worried at what was going on at the moment.

'_It's happening sooner than I though!'_

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"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTIHING, MONEY POWER, YOU'VE GOT IT!!" These were the cries of a short pudgy little man by the name of Gato.

One person, only one person! That was all it took to kill everyone in the vicinity. All of them had been Gato's men and all of them were lying in pools of their own blood. The women, who had been captured, raped and tortured, were all frozen in fear. Not because of the individual that had set them free, but because of what was happening back in wave.

A large pillar of red malevolent chakra was ascending into the heavens, twisting the clouds around it. The wind bent the trees with the amount of power coming from the chakra.

Gato looked at the abnormally long Katana in the persons grip. The other hand had grabbed him by the collar.

Gato looked at the person's face to see that they were smiling. Not at him, but at the pillar of pure chakra.

"So, that's one less Jinchuriki…" The voice was beautiful.

Gato stared at the person. A woman! When he had first met the woman, he wasn't intimidated at all. She had just kicked the door to his office down and had told him that today was the day! He had ordered her to be taken to the prison for him to 'deal' with later. What he didn't expect was for all of his men to be slaughtered in less than five minutes. Eight hundred bandits and a few ninja!! All killed by a beautiful green eyed, red headed woman!!

"Well, it's time!" she said as she tore her gaze from the pillar of chakra. Her katana pulsed and glowed the same color as the chakra miles away.

"Masamune senses my son and his prisoner…" she said to herself. "That may be useful later on when I look for the others…"

Gato was about to shit himself at this.

'_The Masamune!! FUCK!! What do I do?!'_

"Please… I just…"

He found himself unable as he was dropped to the ground and cut through like butter.

The small man became two symmetrical halves at this.

Kushina looked at the man in disgust. Gato's blood slid off of Masamune, leaving it as clean as the day it was forged.

The women watched in awe as the woman garbed in a silver and black cloak whirled around and walked into the forest.

"Get going ladies, wave is free!" Kushina called behind her.

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The elemental nations all watched the giant pillar of chakra, being visible to the entire continent.

Down on the bridge was a different story. Nobody could tell if it was a pillar or a sphere. It was just a massive _thing_ of chakra. They were to close to it to tell otherwise.

Kakashi, Haku and Zabuza were using as much chakra as possible to keep themselves from flying off from the amount of power pushing against them and they were still at least half a mile away.

They had been blown back when the chakra had exploded out. Tazuna had been knocked unconscious and was being carried by Zabuza. Haku had Sasuke and Kakashi had Sakura. The ones being carried all knocked out cold from one thing or another.

Kakashi couldn't hear anything other than the wind howling around him. He had tried to yell something to Zabuza but he couldn't even hear himself. He watched the amount of chakra surrounding the blonde Genin. Occasionally, he could see far enough in with his Sharingan that he could see Naruto's outline, suspended in midair.

Then, he saw what happened and was glad that Tazuna was out cold.

The bridge cracked and fell apart from the stress of the demonic chakra.

It seemed loud enough to be heard slightly over the howling winds and the roar of the chakra.

'_Naruto. I'm sure ever back in Konoha will feel this. How couldn't they!?'_

'_This child! How can he have so much raw power in him!?'_

'_Is this how he plans on convincing Zabuza-sama into coming with him?'_

The three watched as the chakra occasionally lashed out at a tree and uprooted it, absorbing said tree and obliterating it into ash.

The remains of the bridge were also converted into dust as the tornado of chakra absorbed debris.

The water had been pushed away from the chakra, exposing the ocean floor around an inside of the chakra made pillar.

The three conscious shinobi watched for about five minutes when the wind suddenly stopped. The chakra seemed still, the water unmoving, the animals, attentive, and Naruto, floating in the epicenter of it all.

His face seemed calm, determined, and… relaxed.

The chakra began to fade out of existence. Kakashi and the other two stared, watching the chakra simply disappear, as if it never existed. The last of the chakra disappeared and Kakashi looked on with a worried look on his face.

"I don't think it's over yet…" he stated to Zabuza who was about to take a step forward.

They watched for about a minute, Naruto still floating where the bridge had been a few minutes ago. Then, chakra exploded out of him one more time.

It swirled around him as it took a shape.

Kakashi felt himself shiver when the chakra took the form of a fox. It danced around Naruto, chasing its one tail before it jumped into the sky, roaring a demonic roar that sent shivers down the spines of anyone that heard it. The roar was heard as far as Konoha and Kumo. The villagers in Konoha fell to their knees, remembering that very sound from thirteen years ago.

The fox shot into the sky and disappeared into the clouds. Kakashi watched as it grew larger until it started to expand as if…

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"GET DOWN!"

Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku flung themselves to the ground when they heard a large explosion in the sky. The clouds were blown away by a wave of red chakra that expanded in every direction. It was a circle of chakra, heading towards anything and everything. It passed over every hidden village, city or town. Everybody knew what it symbolized. The passing of a powerful Biju.

Kakashi looked up to see Naruto plummeting towards the ocean beneath him. The water had reoccupied the spot where the pillar of chakra had been.

Kakashi left Tazuna on the ground and sot after Naruto, pumping chakra into his feet and legs as he jumped off the small cliff where the bridge had been towards the blonde.

Kakashi caught the blonde and used chakra to soften the landing.

With a large yet harmless splash, the unconscious Genin and the panicked Jonin landed in the water.

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Kakashi had covered his Sharingan as he laid Naruto next to his teammates and Tazuna.

He turned to Zabuza who had shock all over his face.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Zabuza.

"He was a Jinchuriki, wasn't he?" The demon of the mist asked after ten minutes of solid silence.

Kakashi nodded. "The Yondaime, his father, had to seal the Kyuubi No Kitsune inside of his son to save his village."

"So that is how he died…"

Kakashi nodded.

"No wonder the kid was talented."

Kakashi looked at Haku.

"No. Naruto never used the Kyuubi's chakra until now. He trained himself to the brink of death from what he's told me. The only thing Kyuubi has affected was his bloodlines and his chakra stores."

"What is his bloodline?" Haku asked quickly.

"Regeneration and something comparable to the Rinnegan."

"Control over all affinities?"

Kakashi nodded. "Only, it's not a Doujutsu."

Zabuza nodded and contemplated something before speaking ten minutes later.

"Does that offer still stand?"

Kakashi and Haku sweat dropped.

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Tazuna was the first to awaken and when he saw what had happened to his bridge, he fainted.

Naruto woke up next.

It felt as if his body was on fire. He could feel his joints popping painfully and his muscles kept contacting. His head pounded as if there was a fierce battle in his mind. Every breath he took felt like someone was stabbing him with a rusty kunai in the sides.

His eyelids were heavy and his legs felt like jelly.

"You alright Naruto?" Kakashi asked worriedly.

Naruto nodded, not having enough strength to talk.

About an hour later, Naruto was back to his old self. He had been using his healing ability after figuring out how to use the damn thing!

Naruto was told the news of Zabuza wanting to joy and had smiled the same smile his father would smile.

Sasuke and Sakura woke at the same time.

"What happened?" the two of them asked simultaneously.

"It's best that you don't know…" Kakashi said. "Just backlash from some jutsu…"

Sakura bought it and Sasuke did so reluctantly.

Tazuna woke up again and was told that it was the jutsu clash from the two Jonin in the end.

Tazuna was so disoriented at the moment that he bought it without hesitation.

"Don't worry about the bridge. Tomorrow, Naruto, Zabuza and I will go and take care of Gato."

Tazuna nodded. "After that, we'll help you rebuild it and with Naruto's Kage Bunshin, we should be able to complete it within weeks!"

As the now larger group headed back to Tazuna's house, Sakura kept closer to the blonde Genin.

His white coat had been shredded by the transfer and now all he had was a black T-shirt that clung to him, revealing just how much muscle he had.

When they got back to Tazuna's Tsunami had surprised everyone including the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha.

She saw the group nearing the house and she ran out, and kissed Naruto!

Everyone's jaws had dropped instantly.

'_**WHAT THE FUCK YOU BITCH GET OFF OF MY NARUTO-KUN!!'**_

'_WHAT THE FUCK YOU BITCH GET OFF OF MY NARUTO-KUN!!'_

'_Way to go, dobe…'_

'_Why Tsunami? My only daughter…'_

'_Kid has some skills…'_

'_Naruto-kun seems to be popular…'_

'_I know what to give him for his birthday… I hope Kushina won't hate me for it… Minato-sensei would approve…'_

'_Naruto-neechan? Kaasan??'_

Naruto was caught in a tongue war with the bombshell of a mom.

'_MILF! MILF! MILF! MILF!'_

Tsunami broke the kiss and blushed.

'_Oops…'_ She hadn't meant to do that a second time, but this time there were witnesses.

"Soooo…" Naruto said awkwardly.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

'…'

"…"

"I'm hungry…"

Everybody sweat dropped.

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After the incident the other day, Kakashi was pushing for Naruto to read Icha Icha Paradise which Zabuza had decided to pick up on.

Naruto had replied that he had already read it once and wasn't interested.

That morning, the three had decided to head over to Zabuza's base.

The plan was for Kakashi and Naruto (an army of clones) to take out the bandits that surrounded the area.

Zabuza was to assassinate the nuke-nin that had been hired by the man.

Afterwards, they were to leave Naruto to kill Gato. He had begged the two Jonin to let him do this.

They had both agreed as long as he didn't get to into it.

They arrived at the clearing surrounding the large structure to find a grisly sight.

Dead. Everyone in the area was dead.

Naruto nearly threw up from the overwhelming stench on his sensitive nose.

They slowly walked through the field of corpses when Zabuza noticed one in particular.

"I found him."

Naruto and Kakashi walked over to the nuke-nin to find Gato. He had been cut straight down the middle, his organs hanging out, being eaten by rats.

"He deserved it…" The blonde said quietly. "They all did!"

Kakashi said nothing. '_I agree Naruto.'_

"Let's go. These people don't even deserve to be buried!" Naruto spat.

Kakashi sighed as he followed his student out of the clearing.

Zabuza stared at the corpse for a minute before following the others.

'_Remarkable… That cut was truly of a master.'_

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"What do you mean they were all dead?" Haku asked.

"Just that. Every single last one of them had been killed" Naruto replied.

"How?" asked Sakura.

"It looked like they had all been killed with some sort of blade. From the gashes, I would have to say a katana" Zabuza answered.

Naruto sat down for a moment.

'_That area… It stunk of that person from a few days ago. Who is it? I can recognize it but I can't place it!'_

"Naruto-kun?" Tsunami approached the thinking blonde cautiously.

"Are you alright?"

Naruto looked up quickly. "Um, yeah. I'm fine, just thinking about something is all."

"Oh, okay then." Tsunami seemed relieved.

'_**YOU BITCH!'**_Inner Sakura was having a field day.

'_I was here first!'_ For once, Sakura and Inner Sakura were on the same thinking pattern.

Kakashi sighed as he watched his pink haired Genin contort her face in rage.

'_Naruto… You poor bastard…'_

"So, tomorrow we'll head over to the bridge and rebuild it!" Naruto said with gusto.

Tsunami and Sakura giggled at his enthusiasm.

Kakashi nodded as he pulled his orange book out of his vest and opened it to the correct page.

"That's right Naruto, so for the rest of the day, take it easy."

Naruto wasn't listening to his sensei.

"HEY ZABUZA!" he cried out as he ran out of the room.

Kakashi sweat dropped.

Naruto barged outside to find Zabuza swinging his Zanbatou at imaginary enemies.

"OY! ZABUZA! LET'S HAVE A KENJUTSU SPAR!"

Zabuza looked over at the blonde as Naruto opened a scroll and spread some blood from a cut onto it.

"Sure thing… is… that…?"

Naruto grinned as he held out his Chakra Hiketsu.

"Yep. One of the nine!"

"The Chakra Hiketsu! I never thought I would see a second one of those blades in my lifetime!"

Naruto grinned. "Shall we?" he asked.

Zabuza replied with a slash of his Zanbatou.

Naruto dove to the right, avoiding the massive blade as it crashed into the earth. Angling his blade towards the ground, Naruto charged with amazing speed which seemed to stun Zabuza slightly.

As Naruto listed the sword up to slash at Zabuza, the demon of the mist had torn his sword from the ground and spun around to meet the blade with his own.

Naruto grit his teeth. '_He's faster than I expected…'_

Naruto pushed against Zabuza's sword and jumped over him.

Zabuza was surprised at the blonde's strength.

Zabuza ducked just in time to dodge the blade aimed at his head.

He kicked Naruto away while crouched down.

Naruto landed on a tree, ready for round two. This time, Zabuza was the one to charge. Naruto jumped into the air once more, clashing his blade against Zabuza's to avoid getting himself impaled by the Zanbatou.

Naruto landed in a crouch behind Zabuza and spun around. Naruto grabbed another scroll and sealed the sword in it.

Zabuza paused for a moment. '_What the fuck is this kid doing?'_

Naruto found the other scroll and slid his bleeding thumb along it.

Another sword appeared this time.

"This is the Daichi Hiketsu."

Zabuza looked at it and it reminded him slightly of a smaller and thinner version of his own sword. The blunt side of the sword had indentations along it, as if it were a puzzle piece.

Naruto slammed the sword into the ground at his feet. Letting go of the sword, he ran through a few hand seals before grabbing the hilt and slashing up until the sword was pointing to the sky.

"_**Doton**_**: **_**Harinezumi Enchou!**_"

The dirt around Naruto formed a sphere around the blonde. Zabuza was about to charge when the sphere formed spikes on it.

'_Porcupine Dome… That truly is original!'_

Inside the dome, Naruto was going through a few more seals.

"_**Doton:**__**Harinezumi Ryouiki**_!" Zabuza's eyes widened.

"SHIT!"

Naruto's dome collapsed around him as he swung his blade down at the ground once more.

When it made contact, the ground erupted into a field of spikes the size of zabuza's sword. Zabuza dodged here and there, making sure he didn't impale himself.

Finally, the jutsu ended. He looked up to find Naruto, with his blade at zabuza's neck.

"Yield?"

Zabuza nodded.

"Sweet!" Naruto exclaimed as he took the blade from the nuke-nin's neck.

"So, what do we do now?" Zabuza asked.

Naruto sighed. "I'm still working on a technique Kakashi-sensei taught me and Sakura is working on her own technique. Then we all have to help at the bridge so…"

Zabuza caught the drift.

"I'm on my own in my free time…"

Naruto grinned. "You could always spar with Kakashi or train Sasuke!"

Zabuza glared at the blonde.

"The Uchiha can train himself! As for sparing, if Kakashi agrees I'm fine with that!"

Naruto nodded. "Fun. We'd better get going so that the others don't get to miffed."

Zabuza smirked as the blonde powerhouse disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

'_Damn blondes…'_

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Within a week, the bridge had been completed and it was all thanks to Naruto's Kage Bunshin and Zabuza's and Haku's Mizu Bunshin.

Team 7 and the two missing nin were leaving the country of wave behind.

"Will…sniff you visit?...sniff"

Naruto grinned at the small eight year old.

"Sure! It's not _that_ far from Konoha!"

Inari smiled as did Tsunami.

"You had better visit Naruto-kun" she said with a blush.

Naruto grinned. "Oh, I will. I never go back on my word!"

Tazuna shook his head as Kakashi beamed with pride.

'_I'm so proud of my student!'_

"See ya later!" A brooding Sasuke, a beaming Naruto, a glaring Sakura, and three blank individuals walked over the bridge, towards fire country.

"Father, you still haven't named the bridge!" Tsunami spoke up.

Tazuna looked after the blonde Genin. '_He may be a twerp that tries to take my daughter, but he did inspire this country and saved it as well…'_

"Naruto…"

"What?"

"The Great Naruto Bridge…"

Tsunami grinned a fox like grin.

"A perfect name!"

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Naruto felt different. The last time they had left wave, there had been a lot of silence after all they had been through. Now, they were talking with each other, not a care in the world.

"So Naruto, when we get back to Konoha, I want to spar with you again" Sasuke spoke up.

Naruto glanced at the pale skinned teammate.

"No copying my style or jutsu. If you do, I will tear those eyes out, even if we are friends."

Sasuke gulped. '_I think he would do it to!'_

"S…sure!"

Naruto smirked. '_A stuttering Sasuke! That's new!'_

Sakura listened to some of the amazing stories that Haku had. Sakura was able to tell what gender Haku was and had agreed with the Kunoichi not to tell Zabuza.

'_I wonder, if I got as strong as Haku, would Naruto look at me more?'_

Sakura glanced over at the blonde and blushed.

'_**He's so HOT! SHANNARO!!'**_

Kakashi glanced over at Zabuza who was reading over his shoulder.

'_The feared demon of the mist, reading Icha Icha over my shoulder… Strange.'_

Zabuza giggled at what he had just read.

'_Hmm! I wonder if that position is possible in real life!'_

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Three days was all it took to get back to Konoha. The very minute they had arrived at the main gates, two full squads of ANBU had appeared around team 7.

One of them in a wolf mask stepped forward.

"Kakashi Hatake! You, your squad and your… guests, are to be brought to the Hokage's office immediately!"

Kakashi sighed as he stashed his book in his vest.

"Let's get this over with…"

Zabuza kept looking around him, taking in the sight of a new hidden village.

'_It's so… homely!'_

Haku had the same train of thought.

'_I could get used to this village… It just feels right here!'_

Then, they all noticed that anyone on the street had stopped what they were doing and stared at the group.

Naruto and Kakashi both knew what they were staring at.

'_They must have felt the transfer when it was completed… I hate this kind of attention.'_

They finally made it to the Hokage Tower and ascended the stairs to the office of the Sandaime.

The ANBU that had escorted them opened the doors and led the group into office.

There, at his desk, sat the Sandaime waiting at a paperwork free desk.

"Ah, please leave us."

The ANBU nodded and silently left the room.

The Hokage sat, staring at three certain individuals.

'_Kakashi's message was true. The demon of the mist wishes to join us… Naruto, your premonition seemed true…'_

"So. Zabuza Momochi. Is it true that you wish to join our ranks?"

Zabuza seemed floored. '_This is the Hokage? He's so… polite and nice?'_

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow at the look of shock on his face.

"Oh, um…yeah, I do."

The Hokage nodded. "Haku is it?"

The Kunoichi stood at attention.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"Do you wish to join Konoha?" Haku nodded vigorously.

"well, with you Haku, I can grant you access after a quick mind scan and a test to gauge your abilities. Zabuza however, you will need a mind scan, interrogation, sign a binding contract, and have someone vouch for you and your loyalty."

Zabuza nodded.

"Team 7, your mission was a success, go downstairs to receive your payment. Kakashi and Naruto must stay however."

Sakura was about to protest when she felt Naruto place his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the usual spot guys…"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded and left the room, closing the doors behind them.

"So, I take it that the two of you know of the Kyuubi?"

"Kakashi told us about it…" Zabuza said as he glanced at the one time Jinchuriki.

"Then I can speak freely. Naruto, I take it that the Kyuubi is dead?"

Naruto only nodded.

"I want to make sure and have a Yamanaka take a look at your mind, check to see if there is anything left that shouldn't be."

Naruto nodded.

"You know, most of the village, if not the whole shinobi nation, felt and saw what happened. Most of those that were alive back then know what happened, then there were a few of them that think that the fox escaped."

Naruto snorted.

"Fine with me. If they decide to attack me, then I can use 'self-defence' and take them out."

The Hokage nodded. "True. There is one thing you should know, my student, Jiraiya, felt the chakra and was worried, so he is heading back to Konoha to make sure that Kyuubi didn't have any negative effects on the seals that contained him."

The blonde shinobi nodded once more.

'_Jiraiya… He's alive! I missed that pervert.'_

"Does he know?" Naruto asked.

"Know what?"

"That he's my godfather?"

The Sandaime's jaw dropped.

"I didn't even know that!"

Naruto deflated.

"I hope he does…"

The Hokage nodded.

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Inoichi Yamanaka had been slightly irritated the past two weeks. His daughter, Ino, had been harping about her rival starting to actually train and had been forced to train his daughter in more clan techniques. Then, she wouldn't stop talking about the Namikaze heir and how handsome he was.

Then, Inoichi had been called to the Hokage's office to preform a mind scan.

'_Why not anyone else?'_

Inoichi walked past the ANBU guards that stood by the doors leading into the Hokage's office.

He raised his fist and knocked.

_**Translations: **_

_**Chakra Hiketsu: **__Chakra Key -homemade:)_

_**Daichi Hiketsu:**__ Earth Key - homemade:)_

_**Doton: Harinezumi Enchou **__(Earth Release: Porcupine dome) - homemade :)_

_**Doton:**__**Harinezumi Ryouiki **__(Earth Release: Porcupine Field)- homemade:)_

_**MILF **__Mother I'd Like to Fuck (yes, I know people that don't know what a MILF is…)_

_**A short chapter, but it helped with updating quickly! **__**The next chapter will be out around this Sunday. If you actually listened to the song that inspired the transfer, then I'm happy! If not, oh well, I'll live.**_

_**Kind of a low quality chapter after the transfer. I wanted to just get through it so I could get to the next story arc! So, don't forget to review and I won't forget to update!!**_

_**No that wasn't a threat… I will always update on time unless something bad happens to me, my friends, my family, or my computer! **_


	8. Back Home

Chapter 8: Back Home

_**Again with my damn computer. It wasn't letting me load this story so I went to a friends house and loaded it. Well, it's only four days late. Thanks for the reviews so far, and don't hesitate to ask me any questions!! Well, here is chapter 8.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**_

_**Chapter 8: Back Home**_

Inoichi Yamanaka had just scanned Zabuza's mind and found many interesting things, including what had happened at the bridge.

The blonde Jonin turned and looked at the calm Genin that had destroyed a bridge and purged a demon at the same time.

'_He looks so pure, yet he had once contained and killed a demon…'_

Naruto stared back at Inoichi.

"So, you gonna scan me or what?"

Inoichi chuckled at Naruto.

"Just like your father, straight to the point. Okay then."

Inoichi flew through the hand seals at an impressive speed. Without even declaring the jutsu, Naruto felt something enter his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**Mindscape**_

Inoichi was surprised at how dark Naruto's mind was.

'_This kid has been through a lot of shit…'_ He walked down the barren hallway, trudging through ankle deep water. He passed a door here and there, paying no attention to them.

He took a left, feeling that it would be the correct way, being guided by an unseen force.

He took a right and arrived in a large room. He saw the open cage, darkness occupying the space Kyuubi had been not long ago. Where the gates should have been closed, was Naruto.

"So, welcome to my mind, Yamanaka-san."

Inoichi stared at the blonde before speaking.

"You can enter your mindscape at will?"

Naruto nodded. "It's pretty simple. So, had enough or is your curiosity leading you to look at more than this room?"

Inoichi shook his head even though in his own mind he was screaming yes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was leading Haku and Zabuza through the village as the sun set.

Zabuza had gone through an interrogation with two sadists. Although, Zabuza seemed slightly turned on by one of them as she had apparently worn very little underneath her tan trench coat.

"Thank you for inviting us to stay with you until we start taking missions."

Naruto shrugged at Haku. "Hey, I didn't want you two to sleep at some shit hole until then…"

Zabuza grunted slightly as he read his new copy of Icha Icha Paradise that Kakashi had bought him after he had lost a bet with Naruto.

Zabuza didn't know what the bet was, but Kakashi seemed slightly miffed about it.

Naruto arrived at the gates and pushed them open. Zabuza and Haku followed the blonde through the grounds, heading towards the one house.

"Not a lot here…" Zabuza commented.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm the only one here, so I don't need a lot of houses. All I need is room to train."

Zabuza nodded. "So how long am I supposed to wear this god damn seal?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder to look at Zabuza.

"You're supposed to wear that chakra suppression seal for about two months."

Zabuza sighed. "Damn, only minor Ninjutsu…"

Naruto grinned. "It's not that bad, I'm sure you'll make it."

The group made it to Naruto's house. "Not bad Gaki." Zabuza said as he looked at the large three story house.

"It's pretty nice. There's also an Onsen in the back that you can use." Naruto could feel Haku tense in excitement.

Naruto opened the front door and let Zabuza and Haku in.

"I'll show you where your rooms are first" Naruto said as he removed his shinobi sandals.

He led the two guests up to the second level of the house. He walked down a hallway and stopped about halfway down. "Haku picks first."

"Why?" Zabuza asked.

"Because I said so…"

"Oh…"

Haku opened the first door and smiled. It was a fabulously large room with a large walk-in closet and a queen sized bed with a dresser on the left.

Naruto walked in behind Haku.

"There isn't much, but it is an okay room."

"I don't have much stuff to put in the dresser so I…"

"Not much for now! I'll give you some money to buy some new stuff, for the both of you. Konoha has mostly warm weather, but there are days where it rains and occasional snow."

"Are you sure that…"

"Its fine Haku, I have plenty of money and you are my guests so…"

Zabuza was grinning underneath his mask.

'_Icha Icha here I come!'_

"No Icha Icha Zabuza!" Naruto said sternly as he caught the look on his face.

'_Damn'_ Zabuza thought.

"Now then, down here is the…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto walked out the gates of his estate and walked into his friend.

"Hey Sasuke!"

"Naruto."

Naruto sighed. "Come on Sasuke, your still angry at me? Just because I kicked you there. I warned you not to use the Sharingan in any of our spars."

"It was uncalled for!" the Uchiha snapped.

"Like I said, I warned you."

"Hn."

"Today will be sparing, right?" Naruto asked his friend.

"That's what Kakashi-sensei said."

"So, is he gonna pick Sakura or you this time?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I hope he picks Sakura, then I can use my Sharingan."

"Why don't you just make some new friends to train with? Then you can train those eyes with them?"

"No."

"Whatever Sasuke…"

They walked through the empty streets of the village seeing as it was still early in the morning.

"So how many of those coats do you have?"

Naruto grinned.

"Enough…"

Sasuke looked up and sighed.

"Is it just me, or do you think today will kinda suck?"

Naruto looked up and sighed as well.

"I hate the heat…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sakura, could you?" Sasuke asked desperately.

Naruto nodded in agreement from the ground.

Sakura was sweating slightly as she nodded.

She ran through a few hand seals, pumping as much chakra as she could into the jutsu.

"**Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!****"**

The water rose out of the lake next to them, spiraling towards them.

Sasuke and Naruto waited in anticipation as Sakura directed the powerful Ninjutsu at them before cutting off all chakra and control, making the attack fall apart all over the three Genin.

"Oh god that felt good!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto said nothing as he enjoyed the cold water soaking his clothes and skin.

The sun was beating down on them even though they were in the shade of the trees at training ground 7.

"God, why is it so fucking HOT!?" Naruto yelled.

"Good question Naruto" Kakashi said from the branches above them, also soaking wet.

'_Good thing my book is waterproof.'_

Naruto smirked.

"You came out when you saw what we had planned?"

Kakashi nodded. "I have to beat the heat somehow…"

"Do we really have to train today? It feels like we're wearing snow jackets in Suna!" yelled the blonde.

Kakashi thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of letting his team have the day off.

"We can train later tonight, when the heat dies down a bit. I have a few training exercises in mind that could help."

The three Genin all bolted as fast as they could, trying to get out of the training grounds so that Kakashi didn't change his mind.

'_Wow, now _that_ was motivation.'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was walking aimlessly through the village, wondering what he was going to do to kill time.

'_Lee is on a mission so I can't spar with him. Kiba and Shino have clan duties today… I haven't really talked to Shikamaru in this time to much…'_

Naruto kept walking, not caring where he was headed.

"I need some more hobbies… Ones I can do in the heat."

He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

Then, he felt something familiar. A chakra signature that he hadn't felt in years.

Then he heard a perverted giggle that confirmed his suspicions.

'_Jiraiya!'_

He realized where he had led himself. It was the river where Jiraiya had trained him in water walking.

Naruto suppressed the urge to cry in happiness.

His sensei, the one that had taken the most interest in training him was still alive.

He turned around and saw the large pervert squatting behind some bushes, spying on a group of girls in bathing suits.

"This is great material."

Naruto grinned.

'_Same old Ero-sennin.'_

Naruto walked towards the man before stopping a few feet behind him.

'_This'll be a good first impression!'_

"Jiraiya" he whispered as he did the hand seals.

The self proclaimed 'mega-perv' turned around to find a great sight.

There was a nude blonde women standing in front of him, wearing a cute pout on her face.

"Are you the great and powerful Jiraiya?" she asked.

"Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" was what Jiraiya came up with.

Then, the woman disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a miniature version of the late Minato Namikaze.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of your student, Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Uzumaki."

Jiraiya gaped at the boy.

"Also, I was the former jailor of the Kyuubi No Kitsune."

Jiraiya stared at the boy before speaking quickly.

"Lift your shirt and mold some chakra" Jiraiya ordered quickly.

Naruto did as he was told and watched as Jiraiya's eyes widened not at the lack of a seal, but the tattoo that Naruto had been hiding from his team.

"You…"

"I did it myself after reading my father's notes."

Jiraiya nodded. "Well, the seal that contained Kyuubi seems to be gone and that means you're no longer a Jinchuriki. You're normal."

Naruto grinned. "As normal as the son of the Yellow Flash can be."

Jiraiya grinned. "You remind me of him."  
Naruto's grin turned into a smile.

"I'm glad that you said that. Coming from you, it means a lot."

"You don't even know me…"

"I know that you're my godfather."

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

'_I forgot about that! Oh god. Does he hate me for leaving him here?'_

Naruto saw the look on his godfather's face and answered him.

"No. I don't hate you at all. You had a lot of things you had to do that were more important at the time. However, I'm hoping that you could stay here for a while and take your place as my guardian."

Jiraiya looked at the blonde, remembering the promise he had made to Kushina and Minato.

"Of course. If you're your father's son, there's no way I could say no."

Naruto grinned. "GREAT!"

"So, Gaki. What was the AMAZING technique you just used?"

Naruto sweat dropped.

'_One moment he's serious, the next he's a perv…'_

"So, I was wondering if you would allow me to sign the toad summoning contract."

Jiraiya looked at the blonde in the eyes for a moment before grinning.

"I'm sure your father would have wanted you to sign it, so…" Jiraiya bit his thumb, smeared the blood on his hand and ran through the appropriate hand seals. He slammed his palm on the ground and was engulfed in smoke.

Naruto was grinning when the smoke cleared, revealing Jiraiya's usual summon, which held the summoning scroll in its mouth.

The toad unfurled his tongue and placed the scroll in front of the Namikaze.

Naruto moved quickly, wanting to summon two certain individuals.

He scanned the scroll, seeing his father's name next to the spot where his was about to go brought a smile to Naruto's face.

He suppressed his chakra, effectively neutralizing his healing ability as he cut his thumb open on one of his canines.

He quickly wrote his name next to his father's in his blood. Once done, he closed the scroll and tossed it to the toad who nodded politely before catching it and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya landed on the ground and walked up to the blonde.

"I take it that you saw the seals?" he asked.

Naruto nodded as he smeared blood from his still bleeding thumb and smearing it on his opposite hand.

He ran through the same hand seals as Jiraiya had done not even two minutes ago, pumping the correct amount of chakra into the technique as he slammed his palm on the ground.

Jiraiya paled as he realized who was about to be summoned.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat in his office humming happily. He was on the last page of paperwork when his white haired student smashed through the door and hid under the desk.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto grinned as he sat on the head of the boss toad.

**"****JIRAIYA!! WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME YOU OLD PERVERT!!****"**

Naruto grinned as he walked along the toads head until the toad was staring at him**.**

**"WHY ARE YOU ON MY HEAD GAKI!?"** the toad boss bellowed.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, and I am the one that summoned you."

The toad looked at the blonde before laughing.

**"I doubt that a child like you could summon a being like me!"  
**Naruto sighed. "My chakra stores surpass that of Jiraiya's and my father's. If I wanted, I could summon you at least one hundred times in one day… Besides, why would Ero-Sennin summon you while he's peaking?"

The toad looked at the blonde before letting out a large laugh.

**"****Ero-sennin! That's a good one kid! I'll never forget that and I will never let him live that down!****"**

Naruto grinned down at the gigantic toad. "Neither will I Gamabunta."

Naruto talked to the enormous toad boss and had convinced Gamabunta to accept him after he summoned Gamakichi and had given him a snack.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jiraiya was pouting. Why? He had heard the toad boss laugh at what Naruto had said. It was as if the blonde could make friends with anybody.

The Sandaime smiled as Gamabunta disappeared in a gigantic puff of smoke.

"That boy will be an incredible Hokage" he said.

Jiraiya smiled. "Just like his father…"

Sarutobi nodded. "I still can't believe that he solved the problems of a kage."

Jiraiya turned to the Sandaime. "What do you mean?"

"Naruto found out how to get around paperwork without much of a hassle."

"Oh, so he found out about the greatness of Kage Bunshin?"

The Sandaime's jaw fell to the ground.

"Y…you knew?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Minato told me about it when he was Hokage."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "If you really wanted to know, you could have just asked."  
The Sandaime face vaulted.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was walking through the city, his jacket flung over his shoulder thanks to the heat being unbearable.

"Goddamn heat wave…"

He turned a corner when he felt somebody's presence.

'_Oh boy…'_

He continued to walk, acting oblivious to the perfect square that was following him.

He turned another corner and the box followed only to find itself in a dead end alley with no Naruto in sight.

"Where did he go?" came a boy's voice.

"I dunno…" another boy said.

"Konohamaru…"

The box jumped a good two feet and landed upside down, revealing three children.

The three kids were none other than Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.

They looked up to see Naruto standing on a wall, looking down at them.

"Hey nii-san!!" Konohamaru yelped.

Naruto sighed as he cut the flow of chakra to his feet and landed gracefully next to the three kids.

"You guys really need to find better disguises…"

Konohamaru pouted. "We just started learning about stealth in the academy yesterday and wanted to try it out on you."  
Naruto sighed again. "At least use some common sense guys! Rocks are never a perfect square… Next time, ask for some help in the disguise."

"How about you help us??" Udon asked.

"Not today, but I'm free tomorrow after you guys are out of class."

The three jumped into the air, fists raised.

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Well guys, I was heading some where, you three should head home and do any homework Iruka gave you."

"But that stuff is so boring…" whined Konohamaru.

Naruto laughed. "I know what you mean, but I'm sure that you guys will appreciate all of the studying you did when you finally start going on missions!"

The three nodded at the blonde.

"Alright, now get going!" Naruto said as the three children took off at high speeds.

"Oh and no skipping class Konohamaru!!" he yelled after the boy.

Naruto chuckled as he walked out of the alley and towards the market district.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

'_He's good with kids…'_ thought a certain pink haired kunoichi.

**'****_Shannaro! He'll be a great father for our kids!!'_**

Sakura nearly fell off of the building she was on when her inner self thought this.

'_I'm only twelve and I'm thinking of that?!'_

Sakura stood up and stretched her back.

"I guess I'll go get something to eat before I go to train with the others tonight."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto grinned as he felt Sakura's chakra signature leave the area.

'_I should probably get here something seeing as how she has been getting better with that jutsu.'_

Naruto thought about what she might like when he remembered what she liked in particular.

'_Flowers!'_

With that, he ran quickly to the only flower shop he knew of in Konoha.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ino Yamanaka was bored, pure and simple. Nobody wanted to come and buy any flowers today. Her father had been busy all day and her mother was out visiting some friends which left the young teenager to tend to the shop. One person had been in earlier that day and had only browsed before they left. Ino sat at the counter, flipping through a magazine that she had read over and over already.

'_Stupid heat wave'_ she thought as she wiped her forehead. '_Man, why couldn't someone come in already… In fact, why doesn't the Namikaze guy come in?'_

At the thought of the blonde Adonis, Ino began to day dream of the boy, still unaware of who he actually was.

She was so lost in her daydreaming and perverted fantasies that she failed to notice that Naruto Namikaze had just walked into her store.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked through the rows of flowers, occasionally picking one up and examining it before choosing it. By the time he had ventured through most of the store, he had a large bouquet of flowers, ranging from every color imaginable.

'_This should be good enough!'_

He walked up to the register to find Ino Yamanaka staring off into space, drooling slightly.

'_Day dreamer…'_

"Hey… INO!" Naruto yelled.

Ino snapped out of her fantasies and looked at the customer. She eyed him for a moment before realizing who was standing in front of her.

"N…Namikaze-san!"

"Hey there, I just wanted to buy these."

Ino looked at the bouquet of flowers and raised an eyebrow.

"Um… What the hell?" Ino asked as she looked at the sheer number of different flowers that Naruto had picked out.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"What are you buying all of these for?" she asked.

"Oh, well I was just buying them for Sakura because she's really improved on the team and she even mastered a jutsu I taught her recently, a high level one as well!"

Ino stared at the blonde before ringing up the purchase silently.

Naruto paid the correct amount and left the store, leaving Ino to think.

'_She's improved? She's learnt a high level jutsu? I need to get on the ball!!'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto winced at the volume of Sakura's squeal of joy.

"OH MY GOD NARUTO THANK YOU!!" she shouted as she looked at the bouquet of flowers.

"Your welcome Sakura but could you keep it down a bit?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his sore ears.

"Oh, sorry Naruto-kun…"  
Naruto only shrugged as Sasuke chuckled from a distance. Kakashi had yet to show up and the sun was already setting.

"Goddamn sensei, always fucking late" Naruto whispered to himself.

As if called by some magical power, Kakashi appeared just as Naruto had said this.

"I'm not always late…"

The three Genin could only stare at him angrily.

"Ok, maybe I am…"

"So what are we going to be doing?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi gave his eye smile, but this one seemed different, malicious. Evil.

Naruto gulped as he had seen this look before from his own time.

"Tonight, we'll be sparing each other with blindfolds!"

Naruto smirked at this. '_I thought I was a fucked for a minute…'_

"Sasuke and Sakura will spar while I spar Naruto."

'_Fuck.'_

Kakashi presented the other two blindfolds. "We'll start by watching you two and then the two of you can watch us when you're done!"

The two Genin placed the blindfolds over their eyes and begun to stumble across the training grounds, groping for something to latch on to.

Kakashi had led Naruto to the trees to watch from.

"Begin!" the silver haired Jonin called out.

Sakura was trying to focus on the sounds around her and was surprised to hear Sasuke not that far from her muttering under his breath.

"This is stupid…"

Sakura smirked as she ran through the hand seals for the water jutsu.

**"Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!" **she exclaimed. Behind her, the lake shot out a large pillar of spinning water aimed at the Uchiha.

Sasuke didn't have time to react and felt the jutsu slam into him, hard.

He landed painfully near the lake and when he stood up, he fell in.

"I think we can end this here" Kakashi said.

Sakura pulled her blind fold off to see the young Uchiha getting out of the lake, yawning slightly.

'_He wasn't even trying to fight me??'_

'_Shannaro, we should kick his ass!!'_

Sasuke walked calmly over to the tree and sat down just as Naruto dropped out of said tree.

"Are you sure you've never hung out with Shikamaru?"

Sasuke glared at the Namikaze.

"I could have beaten her if I wanted, I just don't feel like doing much today…"

"Whatever Sasuke…"

Naruto walked over to where Sakura was and smiled.

"Nice work, but I think you should keep practicing the hand seals, you're a little slow at doing them."

Sakura only nodded, her cheeks slightly resembling her hair.

Kakashi walked over to the two and nodded, indicating that they shouldn't be wasting anymore time.

Naruto sighed.

"Well Sakura, wish me luck."

Naruto tied the blindfold he had been given over his eyes as the kunoichi walked away.

Kakashi mirrored the blonde and they stood there, waiting for a signal.

Sasuke snapped his fingers, indicating that the fight had begun.

Naruto was thankful that he had done this exercise in his own time; otherwise, he wouldn't know what to do.

He ran through hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground.

Kakashi felt the hairs on his neck stand up.

"Do you have a name for that jutsu?" he asked.

"Nah, I read about it and forgot the name, but it comes in handy."

'_A chakra pulse… He's using his chakra to see… Like sonar…'_

Naruto could 'see' Kakashi. His every detail.

"I can still see with this blindfold…"

Naruto sprung into action and aimed a kick at Kakashi's head which was avoided.

Kakashi had ducked down, hearing the leg cut through the night air.

Kakashi flipped through his own hand seals for the same jutsu when he heard a whistling sound.

Kakashi had to use a seal less Kawarimi to dodge the many kunai that had been aimed at him.

'_Too close…'_

"Hey Kakashi!" Naruto yelled out as he flipped though hand seals.

"What?"

"Game over…"

"What?" Kakashi felt a presence behind him and was about to react when he felt himself engulfed in water.

**"Suirou no Jutsu"** Naruto said from behind Kakashi.

'_Damn, I always get caught in this jutsu.'_

"Great work Naruto… Meet tomorrow at nine for more missions…"

Sakura picked up her bouquet and walked off as Sasuke walked the opposite direction.

"Can you release the jutsu yet?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked down at Kakashi and smiled.

"I'm only a clone, but the jutsu will deactivate when I run out of chakra…"

'_Damn prankster…'_ thought a certain copy Nin**.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Not far from the gates of Konoha, were four individuals.

"Remember Gaara, you must control the urges while in this village."

The red haired Jinchuriki said nothing.

'_I feel as if I've been here before. Mother keeps saying that something important is here, perhaps it has something to do with that explosion of chakra…'_

Temari, Baki and Kankuro had noticed Gaara's strange behavior lately. Ever since the elemental country had felt the demonic chakra, Gaara had been on edge and he seemed to have strange headaches every other hour. On the way to Konoha, he had been recognizing things along the way and he didn't know why or how.

"Konohagakure… There is something there, something that has mother's attention, and therefore mine."

The three other Suna Nin looked at Gaara, wondering what could have his attention.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was happy to find out that they were only required to find Tora the cat. After the first incident with team 7, the cat would always find team 7 and hand itself in, not wanting the blonde to explode near him again.

"Well Team 7, that is all for today and I will see you tomorrow, I'll be on time for I have a surprise for you!" with that said, Kakashi Shushined away.

"Well, I have things to do…" Sasuke said as he walked in the direction of the Uchiha district.

"So, Naruto…" Sakura began when an explosion appeared behind Naruto.

"Konohamaru, you used too much gun powder…"

cough cough…

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Konohamaru, why do you need flashy entrances?"

The small brown haired boy grinned at the blonde.

"Because it's cool!"

Sakura stared at the small boy, sizing him up. This was when Konohamaru noticed the pink haired kunoichi.

"Hey Nii-san, is this your… you know…" he said as he held up his pinky.

Sakura blushed and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"No."

Sakura looked a little downcast.

"Oh, I can see why. Her forehead is HUGE!!"

Naruto glanced at his teammate before returning his attention to Konohamaru.

"Run" he said.

Sakura looked pissed.

'_Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.'_

'_Kill, kill, kill, kill. KILL!!'_

Konohamaru realized the danger he was in and bolted away, Sakura running right behind him.

Naruto watched as the two ran down the street when he remembered what was about to happen.

He jumped forward, clearing most of the distance between where Konohamaru had just turned.

Naruto ran the rest of the way to find a similar sight.

"I should teach you a lesson brat!" Kankuro growled.

"That wouldn't be a very smart move for a Suna nin, even if you are here for the Chunin exams." Naruto said as he walked towards the black clad Genin.

"And what will you do if I don't."

Naruto smiled. "Well, I'm not as proficient at killing as your brother in the tree, but that is the Sandaime's grandson and I don't think that will reflect well on our alliance. One of the son's of the Yondaime Kazekage harming the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage."

Naruto let the threat hang in the air.

Kankuro was about to piss his pants for three reasons. One, he had threatened the grandson of one of the most powerful shinobi alive. Two, Gaara was here and would likely kill him for disgracing their village. Three, the blonde in front of him knew more than most should, and he had detected Gaara before anyone else could.

Overall, Kankuro was fucked.

Temari was staring at the blonde in front of her, impressed at how much he knew.

'_He's kinda cute…'_

Then, everyone present felt the killer intent radiating from the redhead in the tree.

'_HIM!! HE IS THE ONE THAT WILL MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!!'_

Gaara had used a sand Shushin to teleport from the tree, and appear in front of his siblings.

Naruto smiled.

'_And there he is…'_

Gaara was about to launch an attack at the blonde then and there, throwing reason and the plan out the window when he felt Shukaku say something.

'_What? But mother, this is the one!! He will…'_

Gaara clutched his head in pain.

"W…What is your name?" Gaara wheezed.

Naruto stared at the Suna Nin. One that he had become friends with. One that understood what kind of life a Jinchuriki lived.

"Naruto Namikaze. I take it the Tanuki is giving you trouble?" Gaara's eyes widened.

"How?!" he yelled.

Naruto grinned. "Let's just say, that I understand your life more than you know."

Now, Gaara wasn't stupid. In fact, if it wasn't for the demon sealed within him with a poorly made seal, Gaara would be known as a prodigy. When he took the time, he could figure out nearly any problem nearly as fast as a certain Nara. So naturally, Gaara understood what the blonde was trying to say.

"Y...you are like me?"

Naruto nodded. "It's a bit more complicated. I think that's why _he's_ nervous. He'll tell you when the time comes…"

Naruto looked behind him to find the three kids huddled together, still affected by the killer intent. Sakura looked slightly put off by it but was doing surprisingly well with it.

Naruto watched as the three Suna Nin walked away.

"Sakura, take these three home for me, I need to take care of something."

Sakura nodded, not wanting to say anything seeing as how Naruto looked serious.

Once Sakura had ushered the kids out of the alley, Naruto turned to another tree and glared.

"Tell Orochimaru to back the fuck off, or he will regret it." Naruto Shushined away, leaving three stunned Oto Nin sitting in a tree.

The bandaged one spoke first. "Keep an eye on the creepy one with the gourd, but avoid the blonde. He seems to know much… Too much."

The three Oto Genin jumped from the tree, heading towards the hotel they were staying at.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto sighed as he watched the three Nin jump from roof top to roof top.

'_Orochimaru… This time, you won't be able to live…'_

**_There's chapter 8. I would normally give you a set date or an approximation, but what with school having just started, I won't be doing that anymore. I will still update as much as I can, but it'll probably be every other week if I'm lucky. Next chapter will start the Genin tests. Remember, REVIEW!! XP _**


	9. A Blonde's Confrontation

Chapter 9: A Blonde's Confrontation

_**Well, here is the long awaited chapter 9. I think this one was alright, but you won't have to wait to long for a nice juicy battle scene! **_

_**If you want info on when the next chapter will be up, check my profile for that information as I will be updating that a lot more. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…**_

_**Chapter 9: A Blonde's Confrontation**_

Sasuke sighed. '_How many times did I sigh before I joined this team? None…'_

Sasuke turned to see that Naruto was grinning at a green Kakashi.

_**Flashback**_

Naruto was walking around the training field with Zabuza at about nine in the morning.

"They really freak me out Naruto…"

"You get used to them after a while, just don't let them near your clothes. If you do, you will regret it…"

Zabuza shivered. "I'd rather have that sadist as a wife."

"You mean Mitarashi? She doesn't seem that bad, plus she is attractive" Naruto said with a perverted grin that would make Jiraiya proud.

"Your godfather would be proud of you."

"Shut it…" Naruto said as he glanced behind him. "Sasuke's nearly here and Sakura isn't that far behind."

"That's my cue, and thanks for helping me set this up Gaki!" Naruto grinned.

"I haven't pulled any pranks in a long time, I was starting to go into a recession."

Zabuza nodded as he took off into the trees surrounding the training field.

Not long after, Sasuke walked into the field when Naruto tackled him to the ground.

"Sorry Sasuke, but you can't walk that way for a while…"

Sasuke nodded, knowing instantly what was going on.

"You two need to grow up Naruto!" Sakura called out not far from the two.

"Hey, it was Zabuza's idea, not mine. I just felt like he needed some help and his idea needed some refining.

"So, have you seen those Suna Nin lately?" Sakura asked the blonde, referring to the sand ninja they had met just the day before.

"No, but I'm going to warn you, stay away from them…"

"Why?"

"Just do it" the blonde said with a tone of finality.

"Do what Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he walked onto the training field with his book out as usual! Naruto suppressed a grin and kept his face in a scowl as the masked Jonin kept walking towards them when he disappeared in cloud of green smoke.

Naruto busted out laughing and was shortly joined by Sakura when Kakashi appeared from the smoke, completely green from head to toe.

Kakashi stared in horror when he saw that his book had been dyed by the smoke and was therefore ruined. Each page was a sold green color, no text.

Kakashi had never felt so saddened. '_Not another one!! Why Kami why?!'_

He sighed as he put the green book in his green pouch.

'_It needs a proper burial…'_

"Well then… Who's bright idea was this?" he asked in his lazy tone.

"Zabuza…" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I just helped out with this one. It was definitely worth it!"

"Well, I guess I won't be telling you the big surprise then…" Kakashi yawned.

"What? Did you sign us up for the Chunin exams or something?" Naruto asked as he stifled his own yawn.

'_Damn it Kakashi! Those things are contagious!'_ Naruto yelled mentally.

"As a matter of fact, I did, but I doubt you want to so I guess I'll just be…"

"Letting a Kage Bunshin steal the paperwork while you were covered in the green smoke?" Naruto asked as he held out the three slips of paper for entrance to the Chunin exams in two days time.

Sasuke sighed at how Naruto always seemed to be on top of everything and how annoying it could be.

_**Flashback ends…**_

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Kakashi had given the Genin the next two days off to prepare themselves for the exam.

'_That kid is way too good…'_ Kakashi thought as he walked away from the training grounds. '_It's better than having to be on the same team as Gai though… Now then, Icha Icha Paradise, you shall be given a burial that would be bestowed upon a Daimyo!'_

With that, Kakashi Hatake, the legendary copy Nin, son of the white fang and student of the Yellow Flash, ran home to pay his respects to a book of smut that had been 'defiled'.

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Naruto walked through the gates that lead to his estate. As the gates closed behind him, he heard a loud smack, followed by what sounded like a bomb hurtling towards the ground.

Naruto looked up and sighed. "Not again."

He stepped to his left by about a foot and looked up. '_A bit more maybe…'_

Naruto moved six more inches just in time to avoid a white haired old man land painfully where Naruto had just been.

"Who was it this time Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked his godfather.

"It was that Haku girl… I didn't know he was a she!! I accidentally saw him heading towards the girls side of the Onsen and followed, to ask him what he was doing, then I found out he was a SHE!! I thought she was a he!! I'm so confused…"

"I'm surprised you didn't leer at her and make some perverted comment!"

"Please. A woman must be at least eighteen to catch my eye. I am a pervert, not a pedophile!"

Naruto smiled. "I'll go sort it out with Haku, just don't tell Zabuza, he doesn't know that Haku is actually a female…" said Naruto as he walked past the now standing Jiraiya.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called out.

"What?"

"She's well developed for a fourteen year old!"

Naruto face vaulted.

'_Mega Perv isn't even scratching the surface!'_

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Naruto walked into the house and took off his coat and sandals. He walked up to his room and looked around until he found a scroll and opened it.

'_What kind of jutsu should I try next? Maybe a Raiton since I don't know any except for Chidori and Raikiri…'_

Naruto started with molding the lightning based chakra which proved to be difficult even though his bloodline was made for it. Reading through the scroll, he found that he only needed to charge a dead battery. It hadn't taken Naruto very long to find one and get to work.

'_Charge a battery. Sounds easy, looks easy, but is it? FUCK NO!!'_

Naruto pumped too much chakra due to his frustration and ended up with a nothing but a burnt hand.

'_Well, at least I know I can use that element…'_

Naruto kept trying to recharge batteries for most of the night, finally getting the hang of it in about two hours and kept at it just to have it feel natural to him.

Naruto stretched his back as he stood up from the hardwood floor in his bedroom.

"I'm kinda hungry…" Naruto looked over at his clock which now read 8:30.

Naruto scratched his head.

"May as well get something to eat before it's too late." Naruto walked out of his room and towards the kitchen located two floors down.

When he arrived, he saw Jiraiya and Zabuza talking excitedly in the corner about none other than Icha Icha.

It turned out that Zabuza was already done with Icha Icha Paradise and Icha Icha Violence.

Haku sat at the table, looking disapprovingly at the toad sage.

"Hey guys!" Naruto said as he walked in.

Haku waved at him, happy to have someone who wasn't a pervert in the house. Jiraiya and Zabuza glanced at the blonde before returning to their conversation.

'_Bloody perverts…'_

"So Haku, what do you think of Konoha so far?"

Haku smiled. "It is very nice here. The ninja seem very capable and I have been learning a great deal of new jutsu!"

Naruto smiled.

"Yeah… so has anyone eaten yet?"

All of them nodded.

"Oh, well that sucks for me then… Oh well, I'll eat alone then!" Naruto said with a grin.

He opened the fridge and pulled out some leftovers.

After eating, Naruto ran right back up to his room for the next two days.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto watched from the roof of the academy as he waited for his team to appear.

He saw teams 8 and 10 walk in and team 8 had seen him immediately. It seemed that they were on edge and were taking every precaution they could think of without being noticed.

Naruto smiled down at the team and they continued on. The Suna team was the next to arrive and Gaara was the first to see him. He stopped walking and stared up at the blonde, unmoving.

Temari noticed this right away and saw the blonde staring down at them, his coat flapping in the wind.

'_He's hot…'_ thought the wind user.

Naruto stared at Gaara with a small grin on his face. At that moment, Shukaku's whispering stopped, leaving Gaara's head feeling, clearer. Only for a moment though.

'_Naruto Namikaze, who are you?'_ Gaara asked himself.

Kankuro looked behind him only to have his jaw drop. There stood Gaara, standing still, looking at the blonde from the day before, with a smirk on his face. A non-murderous smirk at that! A genuine smirk!

Kankuro looked up to see the same smirk on the blonde.

'_What the fuck?!'_

The Suna team eventually went inside when Naruto broke eye contact with the Ichibi Jinchuriki.

Then, Naruto had to suppress his rage when he saw a certain team.

"Kabuto…" he whispered to himself.

The bespectacled 'Genin' walked into the building with his team.

'_I need to get him out of the picture somehow without it looking like I know too much otherwise my friends could become targets.'_

Naruto sighed as he watched the Oto team walk in the building, not even sensing the blonde.

Finally, Naruto's team showed up.

Naruto Shushined from the roof to the entrance, surprising his two teammates.

"Naruto, you need to teach me that technique!" Sakura exclaimed.

Naruto grinned. "Maybe… So you guys ready for this?" he asked as he opened the door to enter the building.

"Room 301 right?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto and Sakura nodded.

"Three floors, better hurry up then."

The three of them smiled as they entered the academy building. They walked through the hallways, and went up a flight of stairs when the three of them felt a Genjutsu in effect.

'_Here we go again… Hey it's Lee! Oh shit! I remember this! I'm so gonna love this!'_

There was Lee and his team, attempting to get past the Chunin who was under a henge. Naruto remembered the Chunin instantly, having been a kage in training not long before he used the Jikanhanten, he had been assisted by this Chunin on countless occasions.

"Please let us get past…" Tenten pleaded.

'_Now that is quality acting!'_ praised Naruto.

Sasuke grinned and was about to say something when Naruto nudged him.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto who was glaring daggers at the Uchiha.

"Don't" Naruto mouthed.

Sasuke sighed and did as he was told.

Naruto walked away from the group that was in the hall, walking a different way to get to the third floor.

They had arrived in a large room when Naruto grinned suddenly.

"How's it going Lee?" he asked suddenly. Behind the team 7, was the green spandex clad shinobi.

"Hello Naruto-kun! How are you this youthful day?"

Naruto turned around and grinned. "Same old same old. I kinda missed training with your team for the past two days, but like I said before, I didn't want to impose."

Sakura and Sasuke were silently judging Rock Lee as he spoke with their teammate.

'_Creepy…'_ was the one thought they both had.

"So let me guess why you're here. Testing out your skills against the 'genius'?" Naruto suggested.

Lee nodded as he looked over at Sasuke and then Sakura.

Suddenly, Lee winked at Sakura.

Sakura sweat dropped.

"You must be Sakura Haruno. You are as beautiful as your name suggests!! I am Rock Lee, will you go out with me, I shall protect you with my life!" he proclaimed as he flashed his nice guy pose, glinting teeth and all.

Sakura suppressed a shudder.

"Sorry, but I'm kinda interested in someone else at the moment…"

"Oh, well if you ever change your mind, I shall always be there for you!"

Naruto was surprised that Lee had let the situation go. In his time, he wouldn't stop pestering Sakura for a date, much like he had.

"You, Sasuke Uchiha. I have come to request a spar to test my strength against you."

Sasuke grinned at this. '_This'll be easy. He doesn't look like much of a challenge.'_

"Fine with me. This'll only take a minute" he said to his team.

"That's for sure…" Naruto breathed.

Sasuke and Lee got into their Taijutsu stances.

Sasuke attacked first, aiming a roundhouse kick at Lee's head. Lee ducked underneath the kick, got through Sasuke's guard, and sucker punched the Uchiha.

Sasuke flew backwards from the force of the hit and had to use chakra to skid to a halt.

Sasuke looked up to see that Lee was back in his Taijutsu stance. '_That's the same style as Naruto… I may have a chance then.'_ Sasuke got back into his own stance, recalling all of the times that he had spared with the Namikaze.

Lee reacted first this time. He ran forward, only to change directions at the last second and disappear from Sasuke's vision.

'_Behind me!'_ Sasuke thought as he remembered his teammate using this move once before. Sasuke spun around, fist ready to plow into the uber-browed Genin when he felt his arm being swatted away.

'_This guy…'_ Lee then pulled Sasuke towards him, and kneed him in the gut. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tried to punch his opponent in the face.

Lee disappeared only to reappear behind the Uchiha.

"You are to slow Sasuke." Lee swept at Sasuke's legs causing Sasuke to fall flat on his face.

'_He's fast. Well, I guess the situation calls for this…'_

Sasuke stood up slowly, and when he looked up at lee, his Sharingan was activated with two tome in each eye.

'_The Sharingan! This is truly an honor to face it, however, I will end this now…'_ Lee thought.

Sasuke charged forward, feeling confident that he would be able to win now that his eyes could follow his opponent's movement when Lee disappeared again.

'_Where is he?'_ Sasuke thought right before he felt himself being launched into the air by a kick to the chin.

Lee appeared behind Sasuke in midair.

"Kage Buyou?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes widened seeing as how he had forgotten about this minor little detail.

"Fuck…" Naruto breathed to himself as he disappeared from Sakura's side.

Naruto reappeared behind Lee, using the same technique, grabbed him by the ankle and threw him towards the ground. Naruto let himself fall to the ground and watched as Sasuke quickly recovered as well and landed gracefully beside him.

"Lee, if you had actually used that technique, Sasuke could have been seriously injured. You need to remember that he hasn't gone through the kind of training that we have and therefore he isn't as durable as the two of us." Naruto berated.

Lee nodded, feeling ashamed at the moment.

"Don't worry, at least you didn't do it and therefore you aren't at fault."

"He's right Lee. YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH STILL BURN BRIGHTLY AS ALWAYS!!"

Naruto sweat dropped as Gai-sensei appeared in a puff of smoke in one of his usual ridiculous poses.

'_WHAT THE FUCK?!'_ were the thoughts of Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hello there Naruto-kun, how are you on this youthful day?"

Naruto smiled at the Jonin. "I'm fine Gai, just here to take the Chunin exams with my teammates."

Gai looked over Naruto's shoulder to see the two Genin who seemed to be in shock.

"SO THIS IS KAKASHI'S TEAM?! THEY SEEM TO LACK THE FLAMES OF YOUTH THAT YOU POSSESS NARUTO-KUN!!"

"They're just nervous about the exams is all. Speaking of which, we need to get going or we'll be late like our sensei usually is and we wouldn't want to do that seeing as how it would be… unyouthful." Naruto gritted his teeth as he pushed the word out of his mouth. He had never in his life, felt so wrong until that very moment.

"YOSH YOU ARE CORRECT NARUTO-KUN! UNTIL NEXT TIME!!"

Gai disappeared in a puff of smoke and Lee walked in the direction of the stairs.

"I will see you there Naruto-kun. Until then."

Naruto nodded as he turned to his teammates.

"A word of advice for the two of you… If you ever have to fight Lee, give up immediately. He doesn't look like much, but he and I are equal when it comes to Taijutsu and you both know that you wouldn't stand a chance against my speed."

The two nodded They had both seen Naruto's speed which seemed to rival Kakashi's and neither Sasuke nor Sakura had been able to beat Kakashi in a spar. "Good, now let's get going!" Naruto exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air.

The trek room 301 was uneventful until they arrived to the doors. There stood Kakashi-sensei, reading his smut as usual.

'_This guy must have back up copies or something…'_ thought Naruto.

"Good to see that you're all here" he said, not even bothering to look up from his book.

Naruto nodded. "We already know about how it takes all three of us to take this exam and we all feel ready for it."

Kakashi nodded, expecting nothing less. "Good, all I have to say to the three of you is… good luck." Kakashi put away his book and smiled at the three.

The three smiled back as he got out of the way to let team 7 continue forward.

They opened the doors and walked in to feel a wave of killer intent instantly upon them.

Naruto sighed at the attempt and was surprised at how well the other two were faring. Not as well as him, they seemed slightly intimidated but alright.

Naruto popped his neck and closed his eyes, focusing for a moment before releasing massive amounts of killer intent that actually made two teams from Kiri soil themselves.  
Gaara's eyes widened slightly at the amount as he stared at the blonde again.

'_Interesting…'_

Temari and Kankuro were rooted to the spot at the amount they were feeling.

'_This is even more than Shukaku's!'_

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the room which seemed to be rooted to the spot and speechless.

'_That's better…'_

Suddenly a squeal behind Naruto indicated that a certain Uchiha had been embraced by a certain Yamanaka.

Naruto turned and smiled at Sasuke who seemed to trying to stop himself from killing the blonde on his back.

"So Sasuke-kun, how have you been?" she asked sweetly.

Sasuke said nothing as the look in his eyes turned from rage, to pleading when he saw Naruto turn away from them.

Naruto had to bite his tounge to keep himself from laughing.

"Oh man, what a drag. This is troublesome."  
munch munch…

"What was that Shikamaru!" Ino harped.

Shikamaru said nothing, not needing to hear this already.

"Hey you guys, it looks like all the rookies are here today!" Kiba said as he walked over to them.

"So forehead, what's your team like?" Ino asked.

'_She hasn't said anything about me being on Sasuke... Weird.'_

"It's pretty fun. We mostly train and take a few missions. Not to hard."  
"You guys might want to keep it down."

Naruto looked towards the voice to see a person he absolutely hated.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Oh, my name is Kabuto Yakushi."

"Is this your first time taking these exams?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, this is my seventh. This exam is every six months."

"Then you're useless to us" stated Sasuke.

"No, I don't think so. You see, I have these" Kabuto said as he held up a deck of cards.

"What do they do?" Sakura asked.

"They're ninja info cards. They have info on everybody that's taking these exams."

"So you have info on individual ninja?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Did you want to see someone's card?"

"Hey Sakura, where's the third member of your team?" Ino whispered to her one time friend.

"You mean Naruto?" she asked.

"You have Naruto on your team?" Ino asked looking appalled.

"Yeah I do. He's the one that taught me some great jutsu."

"How could that twerp of a dead last teach you anything?" Ino asked curiously.

"Maybe I just held back in the academy…" Naruto said as he appeared behind Sakura.

Ino's jaw dropped.

'_That was Naruto? This has to be some sort of a prank that he's playing…'_

"Rock Lee, and Naruto Namikaze" Sasuke said.

"Oh, you know their names as well? That's no fun. Rock Lee."

Kabuto picked out a seemingly random card and focused chakra into it. In a puff of smoke, stats appeared on the card.

"Rock Lee, teammates Neji Hyuga and Tenten. His sensei is Maito Gai. His Ninjutsu and Genjutsu skills are next to nothing but his Taijutsu is off the charts. His team has completed one hundred and seven D ranks and thirty nine C ranks."

"Next up, Naruto Namikaze." Everybody leaned in to find something out about the blonde.

Kabuto took a card out of the deck and focused chakra into it. His stats appeared in a puff of smoke.

"His teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. His sensei is Kakashi Hatake. This is interesting, it seems that all of his skills are off the charts.

His team has had forty six D ranked missions three C ranked and even one A ranked!"

The other two teams looked at team 7 in awe.

"It says here that he had gone through the academy under a henge fooling most of the village and passed his final exam by dealing with a traitorous Chunin single handedly."  
Sasuke was surprised to hear this as was the rest of the Genin.

"Anyone else? I can tell you about anyone except for Oto, seeing as how they are a small village and therefore I don't have much info on them."

Ino had jumped off of Sasuke's back and was standing there, staring at the blonde Namikaze in wonder. She was so engrossed with staring, she failed to notice that she was in the way of a charging Oto Genin until he was about to smack her aside.

Next thing everybody knew, Ino was wrapped in Naruto's arm while his other arm held a kunai at the Oto Nin's neck.

"Such behavior at the Chunin exams could get you killed. Next time you try attacking a fellow Konoha shinobi, I will not hesitate to kill you, got it?" The entire room was bathed in killer intent as Naruto stated this and a few more inexperienced Genin had soiled themselves.

Naruto stared at the Oto Nin in front of him. His face was wrapped in bandages, making him slightly resemble a mummy.

"I think your name was Dosu, I hope you delivered my little message to your leader…"

The Genin said nothing as he kept himself still, not wanting to provoke the blonde into killing him.

'_This kid, he's definitely dangerous. I didn't even see him move at all.'_

The other two Oto Genin stood not far from their teammate, staring in fear at the blonde.

Naruto removed the kunai from Dosu's neck and released Ino.

"Sorry Ino, just needed to make sure you didn't get hurt."

Naruto turned around and walked towards his team as he halted the flow of killer intent once again.

Zaku and Kin walked up to their teammate.

"Avoid the blonde at all costs" Dosu said.

"What about the Uchiha?" Zaku asked.

"We'll figure something out…"

Suddenly, the front of the classroom erupted into smoke. Naruto smirked at this.

"ALRIGHT YOU PUNKS! SETTLE DOWN OR YOU'RE OUT OF THIS EXAM!" yelled the head of interrogation. The smoke dissipated revealing about two dozen Chunin and Jonin and in the middle, was Ibiki Morino.

"Follow me to the next classroom!" he barked at the crowd of Genin.

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Naruto yawned as he looked at the paper in front of him.

'_Well, two minutes in and I'm already bored… I may as well actually do something… Hey, maybe I'll do this whole complete the test thingy!!'_

Naruto raised his hand.

"May I use the restroom?" he asked. Ibiki nodded to one of the Chunin who was watching.

The Chunin stood up and led Naruto out of the room.

"So, how long have you been a Chunin?" Naruto asked as he was led down the hall towards the restroom.

"About two years" answered the Chunin.

Naruto nodded as they walked into the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke sighed as he watched his teammate walk out of the room for a bathroom break.

'_What's he up to? He wouldn't just do this without a reason.'_

He sighed as he watched Naruto and the Chunin come back in about five minutes later.

Naruto sat back down at his seat and began to write on his quiz.

'_Maybe he really did just need a bathroom break… I wonder if he's figured this test out yet?'_ Sasuke reactivated his Sharingan and copied off of the person two rows in front of him.

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Ino Yamanaka and her team had finished the quiz with half an hour left…

'_Thank you forehead…'_ she thought as she looked down at her paper. She took a moment to look around the classroom and spotted the one person that had been on her mind. Right in front of her, was Naruto Namikaze.

'_So he's really Naruto? How could it be him? I mean, Naruto's arms weren't that muscular and when this guy held me… bad Ino, get your head out of the gutter!!'_ Ino stared at the back of the Namikaze's head, wondering how he had fooled everybody when it hit her like a brick wall.

'_Of course! I could always check his mind!'_

Underneath her desk, Ino was going through the hand seals of a new jutsu that she had been taught by her father.

She finished the last seal and looked intently at Naruto.

"_**Omoi Sukyan No Jutsu**_…" she muttered under her breath.

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Naruto was sitting there, doing nothing but staring at the chalkboard now that he was done with his little quiz. He glanced at the Chunin who had escorted him earlier.

'_He seems to be having fun here…'_ he thought sarcastically when he felt another presense push on his mind.

'_Fuck. Ino must have gotten a little too curious for her own good. Better stop her before she sees anything that hasn't happened in this time…'_ He quickly fell into a meditative state and felt himself being pulled into his mindscape.

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Ibiki raised an eyebrow when he saw the Yamanaka fall unconcious for the second time. Then, he raised his other eyebrow when the Namikaze fell unconcious not long after.

'_Somethings going on… but what could it be? They're already done with their tests…'_

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_**Mindscape**_

Ino shivered when she opened her eyes.

Everything seemed so, dark. She seemed to remember Naruto always being cheerful and happy. But his mind showed something entirely different.

"He's probably been through a lot to have his mind in such a state…"

"You'd be right with that!" Naruto said as he materialized out of nothing.

"N…N…Naruto?" Ino stuttered.

Naruto grinned at her reaction.

"Next thing I know, you'll be fainting around me as well. We may need to rechristen you Hinata!"

Ino flushed at these words.

"How can you get in here?" she asked.

"It's my mind… Why are you even in here when you've already finished the test?"

Ino's jaw dropped. '_He has a point…'_

Naruto turned around and stared at the open cage that Ino seemed to have not noticed until just now.

"Why is there a cage here?" she asked.

Naruto sighed. "Maybe, one day if we ever become good enough friends, I'll tell you. Just know that, only three other Genin actually know why and I'm not telling you who."  
Ino looked at the cage as she slowly approached it.

"Why is your mind so…"

"Evil? Dark? Depressing?"

Ino nodded.

"Well, it definitly has to do with the cage. But the main reasons would be growing up alone, with no one to help me or to take care of me!"

Ino turned and looked at the blonde.

"You were at the orphanage weren't you?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head as he stared at the empty cage.

"I was thrown out when I was about three or four. I was on the streets until I was about seven when the Hokage got me an apartment to live in."

"Why?"

"I guess they just didn't like me back then. Not a lot of people did."

"It couldn't have been that bad…" Ino said.

Naruto laughed, a hollow laugh. "Ino, that was the severly edited version. One day, I may tell you, but not a lot of our age group knows about what I've been through."

Ino looked at naruto, wondering what could be bad enough to cause his mind to be like this.

"I assume you came here for some sort of answers?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, well… I guess… Except now I have more questions and no answers."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I'm still Naruto Namikaze. Always have been, always will be."

Ino nodded. "You had better get out of here before you run out of chakra" Ino said.

Naruto grinned at his fellow blonde.

"I have plenty of chakra to stay in here and talk to you for days or even weeks, you however, do not and this is a very strenuous technique and you're running out of chakra as we speak."

Ino's eyes widened when she realized that naruto was correct.

"We'll talk later!" she said as she ran through some hand seals.

"Kai!"

Ino disappeared from Naruto's mindscape, leaving him alone once again.

"Boy is she nosy…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ino opened her eyes and sat up only to rest her head on the desk once more.

'_That technique takes too much out of me…'_

She closed her eyes only to reopen them when she heard Naruto sit up in front of her.

'_Not a lot of people can go into their own minds like that, but he could. I bet he could probably fight off the Shintenshin no Jutsu…'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ibiki raised an eyebrow when he saw how intently the Yamanaka girl was staring at the last Namikaze.

'_Well well, it seems as if he already has a fanclub in the making…'_

"ALRIGHT! It's been fourty five minutes, time for the final question. But first let me…"

'_Blah, blah, blah… I just need to make sure my team doesn't quit on me…' _Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto looked behind him and saw his two teammates sitting on the same row, at different ends.

He gave them a grin and a nod which was returned by both.

"…take the Chunin exams again." Ibiki finished his initimidating speech happily.

"But there are other candidates that have taken this exam already!" yelled a certain Inuzuka.

"Well, they were lucky enough to not have me running things in the past…"

Naruto glanced at the rest of the rookie nine to gauge their reactions.

Sasuke and Sakura were looking confident, Kiba was as confident as ever. Shikamaru seemed to be sleeping, but Naruto was sure that he heard and understood everything.

Choji was munching on his chips and Ino was staring at him with a slight blush.

Shino seemed to have also figured it out and was attempting to catch the gaze of his female teammate.

Hinata Hyuga was a nervous wreak. She was slightly sweating, poking her two index fingers together, wondering what her father would say if she were to be a Genin forever because she couldn't answer a simple question.

Naruto sighed. '_She never could see underneath the underneath with that confidence issue…'_

A few teams left, followed by a few more.

Naruto looked to his left to see Kankuro glaring at him.

'_Looks like he figured out what I did!'_

Naruto stood up and yawned.

"Number 67, are you quitting?"

Naruto looked at the Jonin that had called on him and blinked.

"Why would I? If I don't take this chance, then why would I even be qualified to be a Chunin?" With that said, he sat back down.

Naruto's words had hit Hinata slightly.

'_He's right, I see what he means now.'_

Most of the remaining Genin in the room had figured it out when Naruto had said this.

'_The Namikaze boy… He seems to be like a beacon of hope… He's an interesting one…'_

"Is everyone in this room sure that they wish to continue to the tenth question?"

Ibiki looked at all of the Genin's faces to find that they all were confident in their choice.

"Well, congratulations. Everyone in this room just passed the first exam!"

Before anybody could react, the door burst open revealing the Chunin that had escorted Naruto to the restroom at the beginning of the test.

"Where's the Namikaze brat?!" he roared in anger.

Ibiki looked very confused. He glanced at Naruto and then the Chunin who was sitting down, to the exact same Chunin standing in the doorway.

"What's going on here?" Ibiki asked.

_**Flashback**_

Naruto was entering the bathroom when he spun around and grabbed the Chunin by the throat. He dragged the man into the bathroom and pinned him against the wall.

"Well, time for my plan." Behind Naruto, a Kage Bunshin appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ready?" the Bunshin asked.

Naruto nodded. The Bunshin ran through about thirteen hand seals, while the original kept eye contact with the Chunin.

The Bunshin slammed his palm against the back of Naruto's head when it was done.

Suddenly, the world around the Chunin melted.

"You are within a special Genjutsu that is a replica of Itachi Uchiha's most powerful Genjutsu. Now then, I will be asking you questions which I expect to get correct answers for!"

The Chunin nodded slightly as naruto still held him by the throat.

"Alright. What's the answer to question number 1?"

The Chunin sweat dropped.

Finally, Naruto dropped the Genjutsu and knocked the Chunin out.

He turned to his Bunshin and nodded as it transformed into the Chunin.

"Sweet, let's hide him and go back."

_**Flashback ends**_

Ibiki stared at the young Namikaze as the Bunshin under a henge dropped the henge and released himself.

'_I couldn't even tell that it was a fake!!'_

Ibiki motioned for the Chunin to sit down in his chair that was previously occupied by an imposter. The Chunin glared at the Namikaze as he sat down.

"Well then…" Ibiki couldn't finish his sentence when his window shattered when a dark ball slammed through it.

'_She's early… again…'_

Naruto smirked as Anko Mitarashi appeared from the ball, which unfurled into a banner.

"Alright you maggots, now isn't the time to be excited!" she yelled.

'_Well well, the Namikaze is here as well!' _Anko smirked at the blonde.

"I'm the proctor for the second exam, Anko Mitarashi! The exam will begin tomorrow morning at training ground 44. Your team's sensei will inform you of where that is!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sighed as he walked out of the academy building beside Sasuke and Sakura.

"What's up?" Sasuke asked his teammate.

"Just one of your fangirls again… Except I think she's following me, not you."

Sasuke smirked. '_It's better that way…'_

Naruto glanced behind him. "Hey, I'll meet you two tomorrow at training ground 44. I need to do something before the night ends." Sasuke nodded at the blonde as he disappeared in whirlwind of leaves.

'_I really need to learn that technique…' _thought the Uchiha.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ino pouted at the empty spot that Naruto had just been.

'_I thought I might be able to learn about him, but he just vanishes…'_

Ino turned around to go home. '_I'll just corner forehead tomorrow and see if she can't give me some info on Naruto.'_

_**Translations:**_

_**Omoi Sukyan No Jutsu **__(mind scan technique) – homemade ;) _

_**Well, there you have it and I hope you enjoyed it!! The next chapter will contain an epic fight scene. Well, as epic as I can make it, but I will be putting most of my efforts into that scene! I'm pretty sure most of you can guess who'll be fighting! The next chapter will be out ASAP!! For more info, check my author page thingy! **__**Please remember to review this story so that I can continue to be motivated by great reviews!! I love them, they're like crack and I can't get enough!! Well, until next time!!**_


	10. A Snake In The Wind

_**I am soooo sorry… I don't like any excuse, but my life kinda went crazy when I turned 18 back in September and it wasn't a good kind of crazy… and when I finally worked a bunch of shit out, my computer up and died on me… Windows Vista, is the bane of my existence… Now, I finally have access to not one, but three computers… Nice right? So, from now on, I WILL BE KEEPING UP! I apologize for the five months of delays and all that junk… But, if I have let any of you down and you feel like you don't want to read this fic any more, well gooooood for you… Life's a bitch, and then you die… Well, I know half of that statement pretty well, and writing fanfiction maybe a great and fun thing in my opinion, my life is kinda a bigger issue… and I know many would agree… anyways, thanks for the great reviews so far, and for those that have been waiting quite some time now, here you go… I'm back on track and am glad to be back…**_

_**Disclaimer: After five months of inactivity, I still don't own Naruto…**_

_**Chapter 10: A Snake in the Wind**_

Naruto stared at the the large trees behind the fence.

'_The forest of death… Great…'_Naruto had hated what had happened last time what with Sasuke receiving his curse mark and everything pretty much going to hell after that.

'_Well, at least this time I'm a match for the damned Hebi…'_

Naruto stuck his hand in one of his coat pockets and started fiddling with the scroll he had brought along specifically for this.

'_Last time he used a great breakthrough to separate us, so if he does the same thing here, it'll guarantee my victory.'_

Naruto sighed as he popped his neck and turned to look at his two teammates.

'_They're better prepared this time around as well, but I need to make sure they get the hell out of there when shit hits the fan.'_

Sasuke noticed that Naruto was nervous and it was starting to get _him _nervous.

'_What's up with Naruto? I've never seen him like this, it's like he's waiting for something to attack him at any moment.'_ He watched Naruto's movements.

'_He's definitely anticipating something…'_

Sasuke sighed, deciding not to dwell on it much longer and to bring something up that had been bothering him.

"Naruto… about that Lee kid…" Sasuke started before his blonde teammate interrupted.

"The fact that Lee cannot use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu was a hard truth for him, so instead, he has focused all of his training on Taijutsu. You on the other hand have spread your training out to all three and therefore your skills, while powerful, are spread out equally. Because Lee only focused on his Taijutsu, he's fast enough to pick apart most Shinobi. His Taijutsu is off the charts for that specific reason and he's only getting better. That is why I told you, you wouldn't be able to beat him in a fight, not for a long long time."

Sasuke nodded, understanding how correct Naruto was.

"I need to say one thing before these exams start Sasuke…" Naruto said quietly. "Promise me, that if I tell you to run, you will run. I'm not going to give you details, but at a certain point, I'm going to need you to run as far as you can and hide."

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue when Naruto continued.

"Someone will come looking for you, and you are nowhere near strong enough to fight him off, I however, may be able to drive him off temporarily. So, when I tell you to, grab Sakura and run."

Naruto glared into Sasuke's eyes with so much intensity, that Sasuke activated his Sharingan without meaning to.

"Um… sure…"

Naruto continued to glare at Sasuke until Sakura arrived.

"Um, hey guys…" Sakura noticed the tension that was between her two teammates and didn't know what to make of it.

"So what did Ino want?" Sasuke asked suddenly as he broke off eye contact with his blonde teammate.

Sakura then noticed that Sasuke's eyes had the Sharingan activated and hesitated.

"Well…" she started as she glanced at Naruto.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Flashback**_

Sakura was sitting on a rock next to Naruto, talking about Kakashi and the plan to see what was underneath his mask when she noticed another blonde approaching.

"Hey there Ino-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in a happy tone.

Ino turned beet red when she heard this and mumbled out a quick hello before turning on Sakura.

"Forehead, I need to talk to you… NOW!!!" Without a warning, Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her up and started to drag her away.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'll continue plotting! Have fun with Ino!" Naruto called out with a fox like grin on his face.

"Alright forehead… Spill. How come Naruto is such a hot piece all of the sudden?"

Sakura seemed to be taken aback and didn't answer straight away.

"I mean, only a few months ago, he was running around town pulling pranks and wearing that awful orange jumpsuit, half his current size, no muscle on him, nothing. And... and... now look at him!!!"

Sakura just stared at Ino before she grinned.

"You like Naruto don't you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Ino just stared at Sakura for moment before answering as bluntly as possible.

"So do you. Look at him, he's hot."

Sakura sweatdropped. '_Blunt, but true…'_

"Listen forehead, you can have Sasuke, I don't care, but Uzumaki, I mean Namikaze is mine… Got it?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. "Um, Ino… Let me tell you something. Naruto is dangerous. Not 'break your heart' dangerous, I mean killing dangerous. He's told me before that he's a target of an organization composed of S ranked nuke nin, and although he currently doesn't have whatever they want, they may still go after him and he has warned me and Sasuke about this. Getting involved with him is dangerous Ino."

Ino stared at her pink haired friend before glancing at Naruto. The memory of his mind came back to her. '_It's possible… but…'_

"You're after him none the less, aren't you, Sakura..." It wasn't a question.

Sakura smirked. "That obvious?"

Ino nodded.

Sakura sighed. "So the chase begins for Naruto, is that right?"

Ino nodded. "It's like Sasuke all over again."

"This is an entirely different situation Ino… Sasuke never gave us a chance, he would only ignore us. Naruto is different, he'll give us both attention equally and if he's given an ultimatum to choose between us, I don't think he could actually choose. He's one of those people who only thinks of what others need, not what he needs…"

Ino raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's funny. When we were all in the academy, he would always proclaim that he was going to be Hokage, and we all laughed at him. We didn't think he had it in him. But, being on his team has shown me a lot, like he's got what every Hokage has had. Selflessness."

Ino stared over at the blonde behind Sakura who was now speaking with their third teammate Sasuke.

"Even Sasuke believes in Naruto and his dream. There's no doubt in my mind that Naruto will become Hokage."

Ino smiled at this. "I can definitely see why you like him Sakura, unfortunately for you, I like what I'm hearing."

"I knew you would, Ino-pig."

"Forehead."

_**Flashback ends:**_

* * *

"Nothing really actually, just girl talk…" Sakura told her teammates.

Sasuke just nodded, not wanting to get into that subject.

Naruto smirked and went back to thinking.

Ten minutes later and they were listening to the proctor, Anko, lecture on about the forest.

Luckily, Naruto had already filled his teammates in on what could go on in the forest and the types of creatures found in there.

They had all packed their storage scrolls with everything they would need to survive.

Anko during her, 'rant' noticed that squad 7 wasn't even paying attention, although they were doing a great job at faking their attention. What REALLY irritated her, was that the blonde Namikaze was gazing off at the forest behind her, with what looked like anticipation. Anko smirked.

'_Time to get a good look at our little Namikaze…'_Anko grabbed her kunai that was hidden within her jacket and with the speed that she was known for, gracefully threw the kunai for Naruto's cheek.

Anko quickly disappeared as she circled around the crowd as fast as she could to get behind the blonde only to find herself pinned down on the ground by her target.

"Now now proctor, I was paying attention to you, there is no need to attack a fellow konoha shinobi, now is there?" Naruto had one of his blades unsealed and pointed at he neck, his foot placed on her chest.

Anko grinned up at the sword wielding blonde, a glint in her eyes.

"It seems that you aren't your average rookie" Anko exclaimed, the smile never leaving her face. Her eyes looked at the sword that was held at her throat.

'_The kaze hiketsu… interesting weapon.'_

Naruto removed the weapon from her throat and quickly sealed it before looking around the crowd, watching everyone stare at the two leaf ninja.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and most people looked away except for the Suna team, the Oto team, a Kusa team which he knew contained Orochimaru, the rookie nine and Gai's team.

Naruto took his foot off of Anko, allowing her to rise back to her feet and brush herself off.

"Not bad Naruto-kun, maybe we can 'spar' a bit after this exam is over."

Naruto quickly caught onto the innuendo and raised an eyebrow at this.

"Would you really want to be known as the Jonin who was swept off of her feet by a Genin straight out of the academy?"

Anko actually blushed at that and started to mutter to herself, weighing the pros and cons of having 'relations' with said Genin.

* * *

Orochimaru gazed at the blonde teammate of the Uchiha.

'_Hmmmm. It seems that I may have another potential host. Although, he seems to also have at least one of the six __Tokoyonokuni Hiketsu. If he has all six, and knows how to use them, he could be trouble. He must be the Namikaze brat.'_

Orochimaru's gaze shifted to the younger brother of Itachi.

'_He seems to be a strong one as well, but Minato's Gaki seems to be the stronger of the two. May as well go for both.'_

* * *

The gates had just opened and team 7 was running through the forest as fast as they could.

'_Where is Naruto leading us?'_Sakura thought to herself. It seemed that Naruto was focusing on a specific direction and it wasn't the tower they had to head towards.

"Naruto, I think it would be best if we went to the tower first, I'm sure we could find a scroll there!" Sakura called out at her blonde teammate.

"Not right now, I need to take care of something in here."

This caught Sasuke and Sakura slightly off guard. What was in this forest that would be more important than rising through the ranks quickly?  
Suddenly, Sakura sensed a chakra signature close by.

"Take care of it Sakura, Sasuke and I will wait here" Naruto said as he sensed it as well.

Sakura nodded as she jumped to her left and out of sight.

"Think she'll be alright Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded. "She's more than a match for some Kiri Genin."

* * *

Sakura grinned as she followed a Kiri shinobi wearing some sort of breathing apparatus and an outfit that vaguely reminded her of Rock Lee's leotard.

She ran through her options, quickly deciding that Genjutsu would probably work best right now.

She ran through the appropriate seals and was about to unleash the jutsu when she felt chakra flare behind her.

"Too bad little girl!" came a voice.

Sakura turned around and ducked underneath a kunai. She quickly narrowed her eyes, of course it had been too easy.

She quickly ran through a few handseals before breathing in a large amount of air. **Suiton Teppodama!**

A bullet of water flew from Sakura's mouth and impacted the Kiri shinobi only for it to explode into goo.

'_What the hell? Bunshin!'_

She closed her eyes, going through more handseals before slamming her palms onto the ground.

Sakura smirked. '_Gotcha…'_

She ran through a few more handseals and turned around facing just to her left.

**Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu!**

A large fireball incinerated the bush that the genin had been hiding in, quickly ending his life.

Sakura walked over to the corpse, slightly sickened by the stench of burning flesh and silently thanked Naruto for all of the Genjutsu simulations he had cast on her of killing men and what it had prepared her for.

She looked at the corpse and quickly decided against searching for the scroll. If this was the teammate that had been carrying it, it wouldn't have survived the flames from her jutsu.

She quickly took off to rejoin her teammates.

* * *

Naruto's eyes widened from two things. One, Sakura had just preformed her first kill. He hoped that she was alright, but he wouldn't be able to stop and ask, because he just sensed Orochimaru, and he was nearly close enough to perform a great breakthrough technique.

'_Fuck… I need to do this now!'_

He quickly grabbed the scroll from earlier and unsealed his Kaze Hiketsu.

"Sasuke, when I tell you, run and take Sakura with you!"

Sasuke who had taken out a kunai when Naruto had unsealed his sword gawked at Naruto.

"Are you joking? Remember what Kakashi says? Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those that abandon their comrades are lower than that!"

Naruto focused his killer intent on to Sasuke, trying to get his point across.

"Right now, I'm not only ordering you as a leader, but asking you as a friend. If you stay, you'll get in the way. This is a fight where I need to pull out all the stops, and for that to happen, I need to fight in an area clear of innocents. This is going to be a one on one fight and this is someone who is way out of your league."

Sasuke was about to argue back when Naruto's killer intent only increased and his chakra flared slightly.

"You know that I could pick you and Sakura apart with ease, well this other person can do it just as easily if not better. Now when I tell you, you will take Sakura as far as possible… ok? Your best bet would be to go back to the gate and get the proctor in here. Hell, see if you can get the Hokage in here as well, it would definitely help."

'_It would raise a hell of a lot of questions as well… Especially from Jiraiya…'_

Sasuke contemplated arguing further when he heard Sakura land behind them.

"What's going on?" she asked immediately. Nobody had time to answer as Naruto quickly raised his sword.

"NOW!!!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and noticed something even further up.

'_Is that… a jutsu?!'_

Coming towards them, was the most powerful wind jutsu that Sasuke and Sakura had ever seen, although, it seemed to pushing everything instead of cutting as wind techniques normally would.

'_Great breakthrough!'_ all three of them thought.

Naruto swung his Kaze Hiketsu while he pumped half of his chakra into it, hoping it would work.

The effect was immediate. The wind seemed to focus only on the blade that Naruto held. The trees around them swayed slightly as the large wind based jutsu seemed to be absorbed by the blade as it began to glow blue.

Naruto was concentrating on keeping his sword activated while he glanced back at his teammates who seemed to be rooted to the spot.

Finally, the howling stopped, and the wind disappeared.

The Kaze hHketsu seemed to pulse a few times in Naruto's hands before the blue glow faded.

"Sasuke, go now!"

Sasuke nodded as he grabbed his pink haired teammate and took of into the forest.

"Kukuku. So it seems that the Kyuubi brat is stronger than expected."

Naruto glared forward as Orochimaru appeared from the rubble of several large trees.

'_And he's using the same Kusa nin… Why a female anyways?'_

"And it seems that one of the legendary three seems to be a crossdresser" Naruto said with a smirk as he pulled his coat off and set it on the ground, revealing the he had a strap for his swords on his back.

(_**Authors note: The strap for his swords is also the same as Cloud's from advent children, so… yeah…­)**_

He placed his sword in the strap and cracked his neck.

Orochimaru glared at the Namikaze with annoyance.

"How exactly do you know who I am Naruto-kun?" he asked as he tore off the face he had stolen not long ago.

"There's a lot that I know that I shouldn't be allowed to know. I know about your plans for this village in one months time, I know about Akatsuki's members and their plans for the Biju, I know that the Sannin all have some sort of giant flaw. Evil, Perv, crappy gambler with an age complex."

Orochimaru actually chuckled at this. "It seems your correct in that, you seem to know too much, especially for a mere Genin."  
"Kinda like Kabuto?" Naruto asked.

Orochimaru's glare intensified, killer intent starting to leak out.

"Yes," he hissed. "Far too much for one such as yourself."

"Yeah, so I take it you're here for Sasuke so that you can give him a curse mark and shape yourself a new host?"

Orochimaru was surprised yet again, but recovered quickly.

"Oh, he's one of my potential hosts, among another."

'_Shit, he has that gleam in his eye, like he's a kid eyeing a new toy…Fuck… I'm the new toy…'_

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make sure to keep you away from my neck."

Orochimaru laughed. "It doesn't have to be your neck Naruto-kun."

Naruto nearly gagged. "NOOOOO! I may not be a super perv like ero-sennin, but there is nooooo way you're getting near my dick!"

Orochimaru hissed at this. "I meant it can be applied to any part of your body, I wasn't implying that I wanted THAT!"

"Yeah, well, let's just get this on with so that I can kill you and become a Chunin."

"My dear boy, I think that _if_you killed me, that they would do more than promote you to Chunin."

Naruto shrugged as he got into his Taijutsu stance.

'_I need to make sure to not drag this out, I have half of my chakra gone thanks to the Kaze Hiketsu, and even though it would be enough, this teme is creative…'_

Orochimaru sprang into action, going in with pure Taijutsu. Naruto was surprised to find that the snake was taking this serious yet. Naruto blocked a few hits, from the Sannin that stung slightly, before moving into action.

Naruto ducked under another right hook from Orochimaru and sent his fist into the pale faced sannin's abdomen.

Naruto launched a fury of hits upon the snakelike man, only to have him dodge and block them all.

"I must say Naruto, this is most disappointing…"

"I could say the same, I think it's time to stop fucking around."

Naruto disappeared from sight. For a moment, Orochimaru thought it was a space time jutsu when he saw Naruto running at him at speeds that rivaled his own.

'_Interesting…'_

Orochimaru sprang into action yet again, taking off like a jet.

If one were to have witnessed this taijutsu match, all the would have seen were two blurs running around occasionally slamming into each other, leaving small craters where the had met.

Naruto sped up a tree and launched himself off of it, only for Orochimaru to appear next to him and launch a kick his face.

Naruto pushed off of that tree and ran through a few handseals a fast as he could.

**Katon Karyu Endan!**

A large dragon made of flames raced towards the tree Orochimaru was on as he sped through his own handseals only to notice that Naruto was as well. His eyes widened as he realized what he was doing.

**Fuuton Diatoppa!**

The wind picked up and blew the dragon forward, as well as intensifying the heat of the flames to the point of them turning blue and slowly white.

Orochimaru had jumped off of the tree only to find that the wind strengthening the fire jutsu was also controlling its path.

"Too bad Hebi-teme, I'm a wind master!"

The dragon was still headed towards Orochimaru as he ran through more handseals.

**Kuchiyose: Rashomon!**The large shield rose in front of Orochimaru, shielding him from harm as the Karyu Endan met the gate and exploded. The smoke quickly cleared, leaving the Rashomon unscathed, as well as Orochimaru.

'_I've always hated those…'_

Naruto ran through a few more hand seals as Orochimaru dismissed the Rashomon only to gasp in surprise.

A Naruto had appeared in front of Orochimaru, slamming a Rasengan into him. The intensity of this Rasengan showed as it tore through one of Orochimaru's arms.

'_Fuck I missed!'_

Orochimaru quickly unhinged his jaw as he seemed to shed his body and another Orochimaru shout out of him.

'_Ugh, I soooo hate that technique.'_

Naruto turned around and threw a few shuriken before going through more handseals.

**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**

The three shuriken became sixty as they sped towards Orochimaru.

He ran through a few familiar handseals.

**Doton Doryuheki!**

A slab of earth rose up, catching all of the shuriken when Naruto smirked.

"Bad move."

The shuriken duplicates suddenly exploded, taking the wall with them and slightly burning Orochimaru while flinging him backwards.

He quickly recovered and landed on his feet.

"What the hell was that?"

"An invention of mine. I'm sure you know of the exploding clone technique. I figured I could use the same concept for clones of my weapons! Takes a hell of a lot of research, pain, and chakra, but it gets the job done!"

Orochimaru was impressed. He had experimented with it, but hadn't found the project worth it and had quickly abandoned it. It seemed it was well worth it.

"Hmmm. It's a shame that I may end up killing you boy."

Naruto grinned at this. "Yeah, well my next techniques will really surprise you, I suggest you summon all three Rashomon for this one though." Naruto ran through a few handseals, a few Orochimaru didn't recognize at all. Naruto the seemed to grow four chakra tails.

'_I should thank the Kyuubi's four tailed form for this idea._

The four tails curved in front of Naruto as he got down on his four limbs, resembling a small animal, crouched for the kill.

Naruto quickly ran through a few more seals, these ones very familiar to Orochimaru.

'_He's not an Akamichi though… hmmmm.'_

**Baika no Jutsu!**

Nothing seemed to happen to Naruto as it would for Choji or his family.

'_Something happened, I'm just not sure what.' _

Naruto focused for a moment, scanning for any innocents that may get caught in the blast. None…

He grinned as the tails started form an orb of black chakra in front of him.

Orochimaru's eyes widened as the orb suddenly shrank in size and caused a crater to form with Naruto in it.

'_Even I would be killed if I came into contact with such concentrated Chakra…'_

Naruto unhinged his jaw and quickly ate the chakra, causing Orochimaru to raise an eyebrow.

'_How does he expect to move with all of that chakra weighing him down… wait…'_

Naruto slowly seemed to enlarge, the chakra expanding inside of him.

Orochimaru jumped back and ran through the seals for the triple Rashomon.

The three gates sprang up in front of him, shielding him from Naruto's view.

Finally, Naruto opened his mouth, letting the chakra shoot out faster than possible.

The ball of chakra flew towards the three gates, and Orochimaru thought it was all going to be fine, until he felt the impact.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were sure that they weren't too far from the gate when they felt the shockwave. Smaller trees were uprooted and Sasuke had to run through the seals to get an earth wall up to protect him and his teammate from any debris. All thoughout the forest of death, multiple teams were thrown by the shockwave or they protected themselves with the larger denser trees, or protective jutsu.

The proctors for the exam all felt the shockwave outside of the forest of death and knew that the Hokage was going to arrive to see what could case such destruction.

The Hokage himself dropped his pipe as he saw the three rashomon being engulfed in light.

'_Only a few people know that Jutsu and only one of them would dare set foot in this village… It seems as if my wayward student has returned…'_ Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his fallen pipe and stuck it in his pocket.

"Will you be accompanying me Jiraiya?" he asked as the large white haired man appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, I have a feeling that my godson maybe involved…'

The Sandaime Hokage could only nod in agreement.

* * *

Orochimaru picked him self up and looked through the fading smoke.

'_Impressive, he destroyed the triple Rashomon… I don't think I'll be able to summon them for a while… pity…' _

He quickly ran forward, where he could sense the ex-jinchuriki.

Naruto cracked his neck and cleared his throat.

'_Ok, that jutsu maybe fun, but it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth…_

**Seneijashu!**

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt snakes entangle him, spreading his arms far apart, to prevent handseals, and lifting him into the air.

Through the smoke, he saw the outline of Orochimaru, and he knew he was smiling that creepy smile of his.

"Impressive jutsu you have there. May I ask where exactly you learned that one? Or is that one of your own as well?"

Naruto was slammed into tree behind him and the snakes strengthened their hold on him by wrapping around the tree as well.

He tried moving his arms but the wouldn't budge. Only Tsunade would have the strength to get out of this… Or Jiraiya in sage mode.

"Well, I kind of invented it… More like, it's been used before, but it was a lot simpler than my version. Mine is a knockoff you could say! After, it wasn't really a human technique when I saw it preformed."

"Human technique?"

"Yeah, it was kinda one of Kyuubi's…"

Orochimaru raised his eyebrows at this…

"Kyuubi's?"

Suddenly, an idea hit Naruto. He quickly closed his eyes and focused, going back to his training in his time, being careful not to move a muscle.

Orochimaru was thinking about the technique, it would make sense as Naruto had used some sort of jutsu to recreate tails for himself, but how could it be one of Kyuubi's? Did this Gaki learn it from Kyuubi and… Suddenly, Orochimaru was in a large amount of pain and was flying through the air at the moment.

He landed and quickly leapt to his feet and opened his eyes. There was Naruto, standing there with a smirk on his face… But there was something different about him. His eyes, they reminded him of something.

Jiraiya came to mind at first, but they didn't look like Jiraiya's eyes at all. They seemed to be, the eyes of a…toad?

"I'm guessing Jiraiya never used this technique against you… a pity. He could have easily killed you if he had. Although, he isn't at the same level that I am I guess."

"What the hell are you?" Orochimaru hissed. '_That strength, it was better than Tsunade's… but this Gaki didn't have that kind of strength earlier.'_

"It's a technique from the toads. I won't go into details, but it grants me better strength, speed, everything really…"

Orochimaru glared at him. '_I may actually have to use that technique… I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use this until the fight with the old man, but it seems that this maybe more important than that, I can still use two of them against Sarutobi if this one fails…Although, that is very doubtful…'_

Naruto's eyes reverted back to normal, meaning he had run out of natural energy

"I see, it seems that you're stronger than I could have anticipated… Unfortunatly, I will not be giving you a curse seal, today… I may as well go after the Uchiha instead as his Sharingan will be such a valuable asset to me later on and would help me when it came time for us to fight yet again, if you survive that is… So, here is my parting gift Naruto Namikaze."

Orochimaru went through the handseals and grinned at the blonde.

"I think it's about time for a reunion, don't you think?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what he was doing.

Naruto quickly unclasped the Kaze Hiketsu from its holster and swung it, pumping it with more chakra.

**Kaze Hiketsu: Anrokku**

As Naruto swung the blade, it pulsed once and the blue glow was back. A beam of light shot forward towards Orochimaru, quickly engulfing him and creating a large explosion, bigger than the previous technique that Naruto had used to destroy the Rashomon.

Winds tore throughout the forest of death once again and parts of the village could feel the effects as well.

Naruto was panting heavily when he heard a voice behind him…

"Too bad I had the foresight to place a Kage Bunshin there, just in case you had one more ace up your sleeve… After all, I didn't forget about you absorbing my very first technique Naruto… And now, for that reunion I promised you…"

**Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!**

One coffin rose up from the ground and Naruto could only gape as it slid open to reveal the one man he never thought he would see again.

"Hello, son…"

Minato Namikaze, was back from the dead and under the control of the snake sannin.

* * *

Sarutobi and Jiraiya were only two of the many shinobi entering the forest of death and heading towards the two massive chakra signatures.

"One of them is definitely our friend Orochimaru" Jiraiya said.

Sarutobi could only nod as the ANBU that were following him seemed to tense up.

Anko seemed to be going full steam a head, keeping up with the Hokage and the toad sage.

"This is strange though, the other chakra signature seems, different… It's definitely Naruto's but something else is affecting it" Jiraiya commented.

"What do you mean?" The Sandaime asked.

"I'm not entirely sure…"

Suddenly, they felt a third massive chakra signature appear on the battlefield.

"That's…"

"It looks like Orochimaru can raise the dead now…" Jiraiya choked out.

The ANBU and Anko were confused at this point.

"What do you mean?" One of the ANBU captains asked.

"That third chakra signature, is the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze…"

* * *

"I'm sure you have many questions for your father Naruto-kun, so I'll leave you to it…" Orochimaru slid a kunai into the back of Minato's head, making him look more and more like him former self.

And with the final piece in place, Orochimaru seemingly sunk into the ground and left the now barren land.

"So, Naruto… Do you happen to know who I am?"  
Naruto nodded. "I got the letter along with the sealed bunshin… I guess the memories don't really go back to you if you're dead…"

Minato laughed at that.

"No, I don't know if they do… I'm so sorry for what I did though, sealing the Kyuubi within you…"

Naruto smiled at that…

"Yeah, it's fine. Kyuubi died a month or so ago…"  
Minato's eyebrow rose at this.

"I'm not really from this time. In my time, the Kyuubi used a time reversal jutsu so that we could live after I used the Shiki Fujin. Reversing time destroyed the seal but also caused my body to absorb the Kyuubi's chakra permanently."

Minato's jaw would have hit the floor if it could.

'_I always thought that time travel was impossible, but this is crazy, time reversal???????!!!!'_

"I guess you learned the ways of the sage. How is Fukasaku?"

Naruto shrugged. "Haven't met him in this time. Why are we just standing here? Aren't you supposed to be trying to fight me?"

Minato grinned at this.

"Oh I can't. Remember, I used the Shiki Fujin to seal Kyuubi away, so the Shinigami took my soul and ate it. When Orochimaru used his little resurrection jutsu, he didn't realize that I would only last so long and that I'm actually incapable of moving."  
Naruto rose his eyebrows at this.

"You mean, that was just a useless technique?"

Minato grinned.

"No, he got away didn't he?"

Naruto realized that he was right… Orochimaru had gotten away… and that meant…

"Sasuke!!!'

Minato grunted. "Wow, that was a shorter time than I expected."

Naruto returned his attention to his father. "It's ending already?"

"Looks like it… I'm sorry Naruto, for everything, I really am… I love you son…"

"I…" Naruto never thought he would actually say this to his father, his actual father.

"I love you too dad…" Minato smiled as his body started to crumble away, leaving a dead oto nin in his place.

'_I need to get to Sasuke quickly!'_

Naruto shook off his feelings of disgust and sorrow for Orochimaru and his father respectively and took off in the direction he saw sasuke go.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura had seen the Hokage, a large white haired man, the proctor, and at least five ANBU squads run in Naruto's direction when not even three minutes later, they were ambushed by a man.

"Finally, Sasuke-kun…" Orochimaru breathed.

Sasuke pulled a kunai out of his pouch only to be slammed into a tree by the man.

"Who… who the hell are you!" Sasuke managed to say, even though the man had his hand wrapped around his neck.

"My name? My name is Orochimaru and I have no patience for your antics right now little Sasuke. Your teammate Namikaze has given me enough trouble to last me a long time and I don't feel like beating around the bush."

Sakura and Sasuke both felt fear grasp their hearts when Orochimaru announced who he was, and when he had mention Naruto.

'_This was who he was talking about!' _Sasuke realized as he stared into Orochimaru's yellow eyes.

He activated his Sharingan out of fear and it drew a breath from the snake.

"Fully matured as well! Sasuke, you are full of surprises" Orochimaru said as he lowered the Uchiha to the ground.

'_Not good, I know I'm no match for one of the Sannin and even with Sakura's help we would be completely overwhelmed. No wonder Naruto wanted us out of the way, and he couldn't even beat him!'_

"What happened to Naruto?" Sakura demanded as she readied a kunai, although she knew it would be pointless.

Orochimaru hissed at the mention of the blonde.

"He is currently indisposed, but from what I gathered, he may be joining us soon, so I will make this quick!" Orochimaru brought his hands together, forming the handseal he always used when he gave a curse mark to someone.

His neck extended and he bit down on Sasuke's neck, injecting the enzymes that would create the heaven seal.

His neck retracted and he grinned at Sasuke as he fell to the ground in pain.

"Come find me when you wish to receive power, after all, I could give you the tools you would need to kill Itachi…"

With that said, Orochimaru formed a handseal and seemingly evaporated into the air.

Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke grasped at his neck and howled in pain.

'_Naruto, we need you, now!!!'_

_

* * *

___

The group of shinobi could only gasp as they arrived on the deserted battlefield.

All of the large trees for a large amount of distance, had been completely destroyed. Nothing was left of them where Naruto's attack had hit.

There were a few dead snakes that seemed to have been torn apart with immense strength, and then a large coffin and a dead Oto Nin with ashes around him and a kunai in the back of his head.

Jiraiya inspected the kunai and the tag that was tied to it before sealing it away for later research.

"Well, these snakes were definitely summoned meaning Orochimaru had to have been here… They died at least ten minutes ago…" Anko said as she continued to survey the snakes.

"This body is a few weeks old, but I'm willing to bet my small fortune that this body was used as a sacrifice… From what I've heard, Orochimaru's Edo Tensei does require a sacrifice" Jiraiya said as he stood up.

Sarutobi sighed. '_He escaped again… And he fought Naruto, just how strong is that boy?'_

"I think we should all head towards the tower before the sun starts to set. We'll stay there, keep ANBU patrols around the village walls, although, I'm thinking that Orochimaru has already left, but I have been wrong before."

Three of the six ANBU squads took off to relay their orders to the rest of the ANBU.

"Anko, Jiraiya… I wish for you two to come with me to the tower…"

The two of them nodded to their Hokage, knowing that they needed to figure things out.

"I shall send for a council meeting for after the second exam…"

* * *

Naruto arrived at a small cave to find Sakura tending to an unconscious Sasuke, meaning he had received the curse mark.

'_Fuck… Things seemed to be going so well, and I just had to fuck it all up…'_

"Sakura, is he alright?"

Sakura hadn't sensed Naruto earlier and quickly whirled around, throwing a kunai at him, which he caught with ease.

"It's ok, I am Naruto…"

Sakura looked uneasy when he said this…

"Wanna hear my next prank I have in store for Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura visibly relaxed as he pulled out one storage scroll and unsealed one more coat that resembled his fathers. The other one had gotten destroyed in the beginning of the fight.

"We thought you were dead when we found out that it was Orochimaru that you had been fighting… That explains why you had Sasuke practically kidnap me and carry me half way through the forest before I hit him hard enough to put me down.

Naruto chuckled at that as he approached.

"Don't worry Sakura, Sasuke'll live through this… I promise you that much."

'_Doesn't mean he'll be the same though…' _Naruto thought to himself as he remembered what had happened after Sasuke had gotten the curse mark.

"I guess we should just relax and wait for him to recover. You should go to sleep Sakura, you're exhausted and you did perform your first kill, I'm sure the strain is starting to catch up to you."

Sakura stared at Naruto with mouth gaping open when she laughed.

"Me? What about you? We felt those explosions and we knew you were the one behind them, you must be completely out of it! How much chakra do you have left anyways?"

Naruto chuckled. "Enough for a few thousand clones and having them all explode at once…"

Sakura blinked. "Oh… um… wow… that much? I guess, I could go to sleep…"

Naruto smiled kindly at her. Go ahead Sakura. Once Sasuke wakes up, we'll get an earth scroll and then we can head towards the tower."

Sakura yawned and nodded her head.

"Sounds good to me Naruto-kun… If you need me, just wake me up." She reached for her storage scroll when she realized she didn't have it on her, and Sasuke's was missing as well, probably from the second explosion that they had actually gotten caught in and tossed around like rag dolls.

"Um… Naruto…"

"I lost mine in the fight… I kinda blew mine up with a Karyu Endan… Sorry…"

Sakura sweatdropped.

'_Fine, then I'm doing this…'_

'_**Shannaro! One more move on Naruto!'**_

Sakura yawned and watched as Naruto created a few clones to patrol the perimeter.

He sat down, with his legs stretched out and his back against the stone wall of the small cave they were in. Once he was situated and comfy, Sakura made her move and snuggled up to the Namikaze.

"S…Sakura?"

"Look, I'm cold, and the floor is uncomfortable, you're the only source of warmth right now, and using you as a pillow is better than nothing…"

Naruto just grinned at this and let her fall asleep on him as he snaked his arm around her.

'_This would be better if Sasuke hadn't received that mark and if that fucking snake were dead… oh well, better enjoy it while I can…'_

"…hm… Naruto-kun…" Sakura mumbled out in her sleep.

"Goodnight Sakura-chan…"

**_Jutsu Translations:_**

_**Baika No Jutsu :** The art of expansion_

_**Doton: Doryheki :** Earth release wall_

_**Futon: Diatoppa : **Wind release great breakthrough_

_**Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu: **Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique_

_**Kage Bunshin No Jutsu: **Shadow Clone Technique_

_**Katon Karyu Endan:** Fire Dragon Bullet_

_**Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu:** Grand Fireball Technique_

_**Kuchiyose Edo Tensei: **Summoning Technique Impure World Ressurection_

_**Kuchiyose Rashomon:** Summoning Technique Rashomon_

_**Rasengan: **Spiraling Sphere_

_**Seneijashu: **Hidden Shadow Snake Hand_

_**Suiton Teppodama: **Water release gunshot_

_**Shiki Fujin: **Corpse Demon Seal Exhastion_

_**This is my original Jutsu for the chapter, it's supposed to slightly resemble the backlashwave from inuyasha... only slightly...**_

**_It takes the chakra from the user and uses the chakra from a technique it has absorbed and sends it back... Unfortunatly it has to be a wind based technique._**

_**Kaze Hiketsu: Anrokku **(Wind key: Unlock)_

_**Well, I kinda like how that turned out, the fight scene has changed from what I was originally going to do, but oh well. Maybe it disappointed some people, or maybe it was juuuust right. Who knows… Well, chapter 11 will be out in the next week or so… Again, I'm sorry for the inactivity but that is changing, I'm back to posting updates and I do intend on seeing this fic to the end.**_

_**Remember folks, Review Review and REVIEW!!! If you have any suggestions, message me. I'm willing to hear out good ideas. If you have complaints or compliments, review… come ooon. You know you want to…**_


	11. Inner Turmoil

_**Wow, I got stuck on writing this chapter… Sorry it isn't too lengthy, but it'll have to do. Not too much action, but it's moving forward and this is the last chapter in the forest of death. Well, on with it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… Otherwise Naruto would be kicking a lot more ass, taking more names, and…. Um…. Well, he would know of his parents by now….!!!!**_

_**Chapter 11: Inner Turmoil**_

Gaara stood in front of two squads of Kiri Genin, staring past them uninterested.

"Hey red head! You deaf? Give us your scroll!" yelled one of the opposing teams. They all seemed to be dressed in the exact same attire with their hairstyles being the only way to tell them apart.

Gaara said nothing as he continued to stare past what he would call 'improper blood'. It wasn't good enough for 'mother'.

One of the Kiri Shinobi stepped forward when a voice rang through the clearing.

"**Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"** One of the two Kiri teams was blasted away riddled with deep cuts from Temari's wind jutsu.

The remaining team was about to move when they heard a rattling noise. Not two seconds after, they were surrounded by a purple cloud of poisonous gas coming from Kankuro's puppet.

With one team dead and the other not far behind, the two Suna Genin appeared in front of Gaara.

They looked behind him to see the tower that they had been waiting outside of for the past few hours.

"Come on Gaara, we have our scrolls, let's go inside already… I'm getting tired of other teams attacking us every few hours" complained Kankuro.

"No, I must find him…"

'_Again with that Naruto kid… Sure he's cute, and he surprised us all with that killing intent, but that doesn't mean we have to wait out here just so Gaara can kill him…' _thought Temari.

Kankuro decided not to push the subject or he would probably incur Gaara's wrath.

'_Well, I guess I should start setting the traps around the perimeter…' _thought the face painted Genin.

* * *

Naruto had his eyes shut at the moment, enjoying the feeling of Sakura pressing against him in her sleep.

'_This definitely didn't happen the first time I took these exams…' _thought Naruto.

He frowned inwardly as he recalled how his first Genin exam had gone… Orochimaru had appeared as the Kusa Nin, he had separated them, and when they had regrouped, Naruto had been knocked out by a five pronged seal, only after slightly losing control to the fox, then Sasuke had been given the cursed seal… All in all, a crappy first time…

This time, was only so much better… While Naruto hadn't been knocked out, Sasuke had still received the curse seal, and for some reason, it seemed different.

All night, Naruto had been glancing at the visible seal on Sasuke's neck, and it seemed, to be pulsing… That had never happened before… and if it had, not as noticeably as this time.

Naruto sighed as he reopened his eyes. Sunlight was streaming through the entrance of the small cave, signifying that it was time to wake up.

Sakura seemed to have gotten the message as she had begun to stir.

"Morning sleeping beauty" Naruto said as he grinned at Sakura's expression…

It was obvious that Sakura wasn't much of a morning person, especially after sleeping in a cave all night.

Sakura glared at her blonde teammate.

"Don't patronize me Naruto…" Sakura was having a slight freak out internally at the moment… She could feel her hair's condition and knew that it was all over the place… She was certainly glad she had cut it when Naruto had suggested it; otherwise, her hair would probably look even worse at this moment.

"How bad is my hair?" she asked flatly.

Naruto stared at it for a moment before giving her a small smile.

"I don't think it's bad at all, but knowing you, don't look in a mirror."

Sakura glared slightly before glancing at Sasuke.

"He'll be fine Sakura, I promise you…"

Sakura nodded before returning her gaze to Naruto.

"What about you though?" she asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this.

"Me? I'm fine, why?"

"Like I said yesterday, those were some HUGE explosions, and they must have cost a lot of chakra! Plus, you didn't even sleep last night!"

Naruto stared at Sakura for a moment before leaning in towards her.

'_Oh my god! Is he going to kiss me? I must be dreaming!'_ Her inner self was so shocked, she had nothing to say. Sakura closed her eyes and waited with bated breath for the kiss when she felt Naruto whisper in her ear.

"We're being watched right now Sakura, act naturally and wait for them to appear… I'll handle them, you just guard Sasuke." With that said, as he pulled away, he planted a kiss on her cheek.

Sakura was torn… She knew she should be on high alert, waiting for the enemy to strike, but she was flustered over Naruto kissing her, and the feeling of his breath on her ear as he whispered to her…

Naruto grinned his foxy grin at her before looking back at Sasuke.

'_My clones should be approaching them soon enough…'_

* * *

Dosu watched the blonde and the pink haired girl talk to each other, obviously flirting if the kiss was anything to go by… But Dosu was a ninja, and was trained to look underneath the underneath.

"He knows we're here" he said to his other two teammates without taking his eyes off of the two conscious Konoha Shinobi.

"Yeah right Dosu!" Zaku said. "If they knew we were here, they probably would've done something by now!"

Kin glared at her cocky teammate. "They're probably coming up with a plan you idiot!"

Zaku flipped his teammate off. "Whatever! So can we charge them yet?"

'_We're ninja, not idiots…' _thought Dosu.

"Not yet, we should continue to observe for a bit longer" replied Dosu.

"Yeah, I think you're right mummy man!" a fourth voice said.

Dosu, Zaku and Kin all turned around to find nothing…

"What the hell was that?" Kin asked.

"Look up" the voice said.

* * *

Naruto grinned as Sakura was startled by a few explosions in the trees not far from their location.

"What the hell was that?" she asked Naruto with wide eyes.

"That was what I like to call, forcing our enemies to reveal themselves" he grinned as the three Oto Nin he had threatened before the exam even started crashed into the ground.

Naruto walked out of the cave as he took of his jacket.

"This is the last one I have with me, so I don't feel like tearing it apart right now" he said when he saw the look Sakura was giving him.

'_Typical Naruto…'_

Naruto set the coat at the entrance of the cave before continuing forward.

The Oto team jumped to their feet, glaring at the blonde before them.

"I take it you three didn't appreciate my bunshin? You can't really blame me though, after all, you were spying on us for the past six hours."

"So you knew how long we were there? Good for you!" Zaku yelled angrily.

Dosu took a step back, analyzing the situation.

'_We won't stand a chance if their skill is anything to go by, even if the Uchiha is out of commission… The only way I think we'd have a good chance is for all of us to focus on the biggest threat, the blonde… But his teammate looks strong enough to pose a problem and I'm betting she wouldn't let that happen… After all, Konoha is a big supporter of teamwork and I'm sure this squad is no exception.'_

"Zaku! Kin! Let's get out of here!"

Zaku was about to tell Dosu off when Naruto interrupted.

"Oh don't worry; Sakura is staying out of this fight you guys. It's all of you against me!"

Dosu's eyes widened at this. "How do I know that you're not lying to me?"

Naruto smirked at this. "Obviously you can't trust my word as I'm a ninja, but as you can see; my third teammate is out of commission and therefore, must be protected at all times… Plus, I would like to see that my coat is also undamaged in this fight, so I'm having Sakura guard the two."

The three Oto Nin and Sakura stared at Naruto when he mentioned that he wanted his coat to be protected.

'_He must be joking…'_ thought all four Genin.

"So, Sakura, don't interfere at all… That's an order. Guard Sasuke and my coat."

Sakura shook her head in embarrassment.

'_He just had to do that…'_ She picked up Naruto's jacket and sat down next to the unconscious Sasuke.

Naruto grinned at the three Oto Nin.

"So, still gonna retreat?"

Dosu glanced at Sakura and saw that she definitely wasn't going to interfere.

"No. I'm sure that you'll regret this decision boy."

"The name's Naruto… Namikaze Naruto" he said as he got into a Taijutsu stance, ready to take on Orochimaru's goons.

* * *

Sasuke was surrounded by darkness. That was the only way to say it. It wasn't as if someone had turned out the light. It was as if something evil had covered his sight, draped over him, holding him down.

He could hear Orochimaru's voice, whispering in his ear. Promises.

'_What's going on?' _Sasuke asked himself as he felt a wave of pain hit him. Suddenly, memories were assaulting him, memories he wished he would forget.

Itachi standing over his parents' bodies, cold and lifeless. The Sharingan's piercing gaze staring at him.  
Then, he remembered a few things his brother had said. As if he was saying them to him again.

"**Hate me, and when you have the same eyes as I do, come and find me.**"

'_No… I don't need them…'_

"**To obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan, you must kill… your closest friend…**"

The image of Naruto came to his mind instantly.

'_I won't! Never!'_

"You wouldn't be able to if you tried, you're too weak…" Orochimaru's voice whispered.

Sasuke clutched his head in pain.

'_FUCK YOU!!!'_

"**Hate me, and when you have the…**"

"If you want power…"

"**Kill… your closest friend...**"

'_I refuse!'_

"Kukuku… Sasuke, not even your friend Namikaze could stop me… One of the Sannin… Itachi could have easily killed me…"

'_I DON'T CARE!!!'_

"He killed them all… and you aren't going to do anything about it?" came a new, yet familiar voice.

Sasuke looked up only to find himself staring at… himself.

'_Even if I killed Itachi, it wouldn't bring them back…'_

"That's what Namikaze Naruto told you…"

_**Flashback**_

* * *

Sasuke had been training with Naruto for about a month and were currently sparing.

Sasuke ran through the hand seals one more time when he sensed Naruto behind him.

Knowing that he couldn't finish the Jutsu, he abandoned the hand seals and ducked down just in time to dodge a round house kick.

'_Gotcha!'_ Thought the Uchiha as he pulled his kunai out of his holster and went to cut at Naruto's midsection when Naruto twisted at what seemed to be an impossible angle and grab his wrist.

"Not so fast Sasuke-teme!"

'_Shit!'_

Before he knew it, he was on the ground, Naruto's foot planted on his back.

"You're getting faster" he said simply. "But you're still not progressing as well as you could."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He knew what was coming.

"You have to stop running after your brother Sasuke…"

"Shut up" Sasuke spat.

Naruto glared down at the Uchiha.

"Get up" he ordered as he removed his foot.

Sasuke hesitated before getting to his feet.

"You obviously don't think I know what it takes to get more powerful, so I'm going to perform a little test."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Take off the training weights and the chakra suppression seals for now. You're going to go full out against me."

Sasuke raised his other eyebrow at this but did as he was told.

Naruto watched Sasuke as he took the bracers and the cloths that held the suppression seals.

"Now before we begin, I'm going to fight you at about a tenth of what I can do…

Sasuke nodded before springing into action. He ran forward, displaying speed that he felt was quite impressive, only to find that a split second later, he was in a large crater, with Naruto's fist in his stomach.

"Get up" the blonde ordered straight away as he removed his fist.

Sasuke couldn't even speak, let alone move.

"Let me guess, you can't. Well I'm going to tell you this now; hatred is not the way to gain power… I know for a fact that that's not how Itachi got so strong, nor any of the Hokages, or me!"

Sasuke hacked up blood at this point, pain wracking his body.

"Sasuke, even if you did kill Itachi, it wouldn't bring your clan back, nothing ever will. You need to learn to let certain things go. The path of an avenger is a foolish one, don't follow it."

_**Flashback ends**_

* * *

Sasuke stared at himself.

"Namikaze Naruto is a fool. Nothing more. He may have strength, but we both know that's because of who his father was and what he used to contain…"

'_That may be a possibility but…'_

"It's obvious what we need to do… This Orochimaru can give us power. You can feel it right now, power to rival Naruto, to rival Itachi!"

'_But Orochimaru must want something! I'm not taking that risk!!!'_

Sasuke's counterpart smirked.

"It's not like we couldn't just kill Orochimaru once we've received what we need."

Sasuke glared at what seemed to be him.

'_What the hell are you?'_

"Kukuku… I'm what you can become! All you need to do is accept me!" his counterpart said as he extended his hand towards Sasuke.

* * *

Dosu gasped as Naruto's foot dug into his stomach and launched him into the air.

Naruto had grabbed Zaku's ankle with his one free hand and launched him into Kin's senbon, while his other hand was planted on the ground, and his two feet were in the air.

Naruto pushed off the ground quickly, landed in a crouch and jumped up after the airborne Dosu.

Zaku landed on one foot and his knee and pulled the senbon out of his arm.

He looked up and saw Naruto and threw his hands into the air, palms facing Naruto.

"**Zankuha!"**

Naruto turned in midair and ran through a few choice hand seals.

'_If I ever see Nagato again, I should thank him for creating this technique…'_

"**Shinra Tensei!**"

At the same time, Dosu and Zaku rocketed towards Naruto and straight into the path of Zaku's attack.

Naruto grinned as he created a kage bunshin and had it throw him out of the way.

Dosu knew there was only one way out available.

"ZAKU!!! USE YOUR TECHNIQUE AGAIN!!!"

Zaku nodded and spun towards his own technique.

"**Zankukyokuha!**" Zaku grimaced as his jutsu clashed in front of him.

'_SHIT! It's too close!"_

The two jutsu fought for dominance and became suddenly unstable, resulting in a large explosion.

Naruto ran through hand seals again on the ground directly beneath the explosion.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Toku!**"

Wind visibly picked up and swirled around Naruto, reminding him slightly of Neji's Kaiten.

The expanding explosion seemed to halt when it reached Naruto's shield causing the blonde to grin.

Zaku and Dosu slammed into the same tree and fell to the ground.

Naruto deactivated his jutsu and turned to face the female Oto nin.

"Can't you do anything else?" he asked her.

The glare she sent him was classic in his own opinion.

"I guess not…" he breathed.

Behind him, Dosu had already recovered and had begun to charge Naruto when a green blur knocked him into another tree.

Naruto sighed.

"Dammit Lee, I told them it was only going to be me against them…" the blonde said as he turned to face his eccentric friend.

"I am sorry Naruto-kun, but I felt the need to assist when I noticed you fighting these shinobi.

Naruto simply shrugged and glanced at some shrubbery to the side.

'_Oh no!'_ he thought when he realized what was about to happen.

The slim figure of Yamanaka Ino appeared before everyone…

"Hey there Naruto!!!"

Zaku grinned as he stood back up.

'_New targets!'_

He lifted his arms and focused his chakra.

"**Zankuha!"**

Ino realized just what kind of situation she had put herself in as she could only watch as Zaku's jutsu tore towards her.

Ino suddenly felt her body move on its own, being pulled by some invisible force.

Next thing she knew, she was in Namikaze Naruto's arms yet again.

"Two times and both times the same enemy… Fate's funny isn't it Ino?"

The Yamanaka could only nod as she noticed that she was being carried bridal styled.

"Where are Shikamaru and Choji?"

"They're on their way…"

"Then I better wrap this up…" he said as he set her down.

"Lee, guard her…" Lee saluted his friend and took Ino by the arm.

"Let us join Sakura-chan in the cave over there."

Ino finally noticed her former friend.

'_Great… Wait, where's Sasuke?'_

Naruto walked into the middle of the clearing, swinging his arms.

"Enough of the theatrics, I've already had to fight off your friend Orochimaru and times tight, so lets end this."

Dosu and Kin's eyes widened at this.

"You fought Lord Orochimaru?"

Naruto shrugged.

"I'm sure you guys felt the shockwaves the other day, well that would have been us…"

Dosu was panicking at this. '_He went toe to toe with Orochimaru and caused all of THAT! This is bad, we need to retreat.'_

Naruto was about to attack when he felt it. That familiar, sinister chakra that he dreaded.

Sasuke had woken up.

* * *

Kabuto was feeling strange at the sight of the Uchiha. He had seen the curse mark in action more times than he could remember; hell he had assisted in its creation, but for Orochimaru to use this specific seal on the Genin was absurd.

'_All of the other test subjects died within seconds of activating it, why would he use it on the Uchiha? He's too valuable to be doing this. What's he thinking?'_

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the markings on Sasuke.

'_They're the same, but different… They're corrupting him faster, spreading, and the chakra output… It's rivaling level 2… Seems like even though Orochimaru knows nothing of the future, he felt the need to change it… This isn't good.'_

Sasuke looked at his hand and formed a fist.

'_This power, I feel invincible…'_ he thought. '_It reminds me of Naruto he released the Kyuubi…'_

Naruto prepared himself.

"Naruto" Sasuke said as he looked at his blonde teammate. "Let me take care of them."

"No" he said immediately.

Sasuke glared at him slightly. "Why not?"

Just then, Shikamaru and Choji burst into the clearing, kunai at the ready.

"This is so troublesome…"

Naruto quickly glanced at the two friends, providing Sasuke with an opportunity which he took.

The next thing Dosu knew, a large fireball was hurtling towards him.

'_So fast! I didn't even sense a fluctuation in his chakra!'_

Zaku appeared in front of his teammate, unleashing his usual sound blast at the fireball, successfully disrupting it.

Then, Sasuke was behind the two of them, two kunai aimed at their throats.

Before the sound Genin could react, Naruto had Sasuke pinned to the ground with his foot on Sasuke's chest.

"I said no Sasuke!"

Sasuke glared at his blonde teammate in anger.

'_Stupid Baka! I could have taken care of these two and gotten their scroll!!!'_

Sasuke didn't voice his opinions and dropped his gaze, glancing at his teammate and the other two Konoha Genin that he had sped past when his seal had activated.

Lee was staring intently at Sasuke, analyzing him, Ino and Sakura both had surprised looks on their faces, surprised that he had nearly killed without mercy.

"I'll deal with you later Sasuke, but for now…" Naruto turned his gaze on Dosu.

"Give me the scroll, or I'll take it from you."

Zaku for once decided to keep his mouth shut, knowing what kind of predicament they were in.

'_The whole time, he was just toying with us. That speed he used to subdue the Uchiha was beyond anything he used against us.'_ Dosu thought as he pulled out the heaven scroll that they had been given.

"Take it, we'll be on our way…" he mumbled, handing the white scroll to the Namikaze.

Naruto nodded, as Dosu and Zaku slowly backed away until they were standing next to Kin.

"Let's go…"

* * *

Sasuke stared at Naruto as he talked to Team 10 and the just arrived Team Gai.

Sakura stood next to Naruto, occasionally glancing at Sasuke only to look away.

Sasuke inwardly grinned.

'_She's nervous… Good. I don't need to have her fussing over my well being. At least she'll stay out of my way… But what about Hatake and Namikaze? There must be some way…'_

* * *

"So what was up with Sasuke?" Ino asked her newfound crush.

Naruto glanced over at the Uchiha to see him glaring at all of them.

'_Back to his old antisocial self… Nothing I can really do about it. That curse seal's stronger this time around, and probably much more corruptive. The most I can do is just make sure that he doesn't defect…'_

"I think its best that you don't know Ino… Just forget what you saw…"

Naruto glanced over at Team Gai and they understood what he meant.

Talk later.

"Well, we've got our two scrolls, meaning we're gonna head to the tower. Hopefully we'll be seeing you guys there soon!" Sakura said, trying to ignore the glare that Sasuke was sending them.

The other two teams nodded.

Lee, Tenten and Neji said their quick goodbyes and were off, jumping from tree to tree.

Team 10 was walking out of the field as Naruto glanced at Sakura and Ino.

'_Weird… There was a lot more tension between those two than usual… Wonder why…'_

"BYE NARUTO-KUN!!!" Ino yelled as her and her team took off into the trees.

'…_O…k? Did she just call me Naruto-kun?'_

Sakura glared at the retreating figure of Ino before turning back to Naruto.

"So, I know Ino asked but what did happen to Sasuke?" she whispered.

"Later…" he replied with a bit of venom that didn't go unnoticed by Sakura.

Naruto noticed the hurt expression on her face immediately.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but what happened really bothers me, and when Kakashi-sensei finds out, he won't be too happy about the whole thing either. Same thing goes for the Hokage. It's just not the best thing in the world…"

Sakura nodded, knowing that Naruto would eventually tell her, probably not around Sasuke from the looks of things.

'_They were getting along so well, and now… it seems as if they've become enemies within seconds. The glares that Sasuke keeps sending Naruto, and how Naruto seems so tense… I know it's not from the glares. I think he knows more about the whole situation than he should…'_

'_**But we should trust him! Look at everything he's done so far!'**_Inner Sakura countered.

'_True…'_

* * *

Squad 7 was jumping from tree to tree, being followed by one thing Naruto hated above all… Awkward silence…

The tension was palpable, and he knew that Sakura wasn't the only one who wanted to talk to Naruto. Sasuke knew that the Namikaze knew more about what had happened, but his stubborn pride seemed to have been reborn when he had awoken and he wasn't about to go ask his blonde teammate anything.

Naruto rolled his eyes when he noticed a chakra signature awaiting them not far from their location.

'_Damn… I know that Gaara cleared this exam within a day or so last time, what's he doing just sitting there?'_

Sure enough, when Naruto and his team burst out of the trees into the clearing surrounding the tower, there was the redheaded Jinchuriki, waiting with a smile on his face… A very sadistic smile.

Sakura felt a chill run through her when she felt killer intent wash over them.

'_S…so much! I don't know how he's doing it!'_

Sasuke couldn't move from the amount radiating from the Suna nin and knew that his death was inevitable.

'_Even with that new power, I'm nothing! This… this is maddening! And it only just hit me… How could he contain such power, and emotion! How!?'_

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed that Gaara's siblings had appeared as well, ready to take care of his teammates.

'_Great… and I was so used to having them as allies…'_

Naruto formed a ram seal, charging up his chakra too inhumane levels.

Temari was the closest one to Naruto and was blown back from the small shockwave that had been created by the quick yet large output of chakra.

Kankuro focused chakra into his feet to hold his ground while Gaara, being the furthest away, merely raised an eyebrow at this.

"Interesting…"

Naruto glanced at his two teammates to find that his little maneuver had knocked them out of their shocked states.

'_Good…'_

"Listen, I don't want any trouble from you guys… If you want to fight, then I suggest waiting until the next exam for that… I'm in absolutely no mood to deal with the Kazekage's spoiled brats!"

Temari and Kankuro both seemed to be irritated by this insult while Gaara continued to stare at the blonde Konoha Shinobi.

"Your blood… Mother wants your blood!"

"Yeah, well tell Shukaku to stuff it!"

The three Suna Genin all tensed at this.

"How do you know about that?" Temari demanded.

Naruto smirked. "Believe me when I say that I know a lot more than many individuals know… By the way, how is the 'Otokage'?"

Temari knew right then and there, that this was a situation that had to be dealt with immediately.

She snapped her battle fan open and began her Jutsu when she felt the fan snap in half.

"None of that Temari-san…" Naruto whispered into her ear, with his Kaze Hiketsu at her throat.

'_Fast!'_ thought the sand siblings.

"One move from you Kankuro and I slit her throat open! Now keep your puppet where it is, or else."

Kankuro gritted his teeth and did as he was told.

"Now then, to answer your unasked question, yes I know of the deal between the Kazekage and the Otokage, if you could call it that…"

Gaara was slightly intrigued and halted the technique he was about to perform.

"What do you mean?" Kankuro asked as he detected a humorous tone in the Namikaze's statement.

Without a word or hand seal, a barrier seemed to appear around Naruto and the sand siblings.

Sakura and Sasuke recognized the barrier and knew that it meant that Naruto wanted privacy for this conversation, although they didn't have a clue as to why.

Naruto grinned at the shocked Suna Genin and released Temari.

"Sorry about breaking your fan, but I'm sure you have spares."

Temari could only nod, looking around at the barrier they were incased in.

"This dome is a barrier that doesn't let anything in or out, including sound. Unfortunately that includes air, so we only have so much time."

"How did you do this?" Gaara asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

I threw down a paper seal to create it right before I captured your sister. It was on a timer so all I had to do was wait."

Kankuro was impressed, but wasn't about to show this enemy that.

"Anyways, what I meant was that I'm sure that you haven't seen the two Kages together since then… Would you care to know why?"

Silence ensued. '_Merry little lot…'_ thought Naruto.

"Your father, the Kazekage, is dead. Killed by Orochimaru."

"How do you figure?" asked Temari, as she reached for her kunai.

"Well, Orochimaru isn't one to hold his end of the deal, so I'm sure he felt the need to kill him. Orochimaru's one goal is the destruction of Konohagakure and he would do anything to do it."

"How do you know about mother?" Gaara asked.

"I'm sure you realize that everyone has their secrets and that happens to be one of mine. But let me cut you a deal. If you choose to not go through with the invasion, then I will tell you and I'll even get that seal of yours fixed so that you can actually sleep without the fear of being possessed."

"That's impossible" Gaara said, malice lacing every word.

"In Suna, yes it is. Here in Konoha however, we have Jiraiya of the Sannin, who just happens to be an expert on seals. He happens to know a lot about seals containing Biju inside of human hosts and I'm sure that with your consent, he would help fix yours."

Gaara stared at him, killer intent fluctuating wildly.

"I shall consider it, Namikaze Naruto… Now drop this barrier so that I may be on my way."

Naruto grinned as he formed the Ram seal and the barrier fell.

'_At least he's willing to think about it.'_

Gaara turned around without a word and walked away, being followed by his siblings.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked as he glared after the Suna team.

"Old friends talking…" Naruto said calmly.

"You know those guys?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"In a different time…"

_**

* * *

**_

_**Sorry it's such a short chapter… I got stuck half way through and took me a week or so to work out the kinks… It could have been better, but this is just a small bridge.**_

_**Now I know a lot of you are gonna be pissed that I brought old Sasuke back, but that's just part of the story. He'll get better, but not as nice as he was. In later chapters, I'll be showing what else he went through mentally while the seal was taking nest…**_

_**There was a lot, but I want you to anticipate it damn it!!!**_

_**Anyways, next chapter, the preliminaries, which will be very VERY different from Canon.**_

_**Plan on having it out on the 20**__**th**__**…. I won't be running into any problems with this next chapter as I've had it planned out quite well for a while. The preliminaries will take two to four chapters… just warning you, but they won't be disappointing. More will be revealed about Naruto, and Sasuke… and more planned on some Ino moments as well as Sakura moments… Well, please review and again, it wasn't the best chapter, but it's going forward… REVIEW!!!!**_

_**Original Jutsu:**_

_**Fuuton: Kaze Toku –**__ Wind Release: Wind Sheild_


End file.
